


Identity Complex

by Nerds_and_Lairs



Category: Incredibles (Pixar Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Corruption, Date Rape Drug/Roofies, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Genocide, Government Conspiracy, Human Experimentation, I swear there is a happy ending, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, Let Syndrome say Fuck, Lima Syndrome, Moral Dilemmas, Near Death Experiences, Original Character(s), Redemption, Revenge, Slow Burn, Stockholm Syndrome, Synlet, The NSA is not your friend, Torture, Trauma, Villain x Heronie, Violet Parr is a BAMF, Whump, bitter rivals make passionate lovers, fuck the status quo, morally gray
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:41:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 29
Words: 124,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27622868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerds_and_Lairs/pseuds/Nerds_and_Lairs
Summary: It’s been twelve years since the Incredible family and friends put a stop to Evelyn Deavor’s Screenslaver plot and the supers are fully reinstated along with the NSA fully back online to help. The only one who isn’t on board these days is one Violet Parr who just wants to live a normal life, save for the occasional moonlight assignment. Given an opportunity to work for DevTech, Violet opts to work for Winston as a stepping stone into a career that stops crime at the source. Unfortunately, a ghost from her family's past has a similar plan. Violet will have to fight to survive, but she'll also have to ask which is worse; the devil that you know or the heroes that you think you know?VioletxSyndromeKidnapping, Slow Burn, and Syndrome is still a bastard
Relationships: Violet Parr/Buddy "Syndrome" Pine
Comments: 133
Kudos: 87





	1. Failure to Thrive

Violet Parr sat in the Municiberg college library, her eyes bloodshot as she scanned her 30 page psych paper for final edits. There was a time when she didn’t wait until the night before to do assignments, but of course that was when being a superhero was still illegal. As one hand guided the cursor over the print icon the other reached for the cup of coffee she had bought hours ago and brought the cold, stale beverage to her lips. The coffee did little to pacify her mood, but the sound of the printer gearing up was some satisfaction. Rising from her seat, Violet made her way to the proverbial finish line with the coffee in hand.

She wasn’t the only person occupying the library a quarter past one, there were more heads looking over books than usual this time of night, but finals week is notorious for drawing crowds. By the time she reached the printer Violet had finished off the weak excuse for caffeine and dropped the empty cup into the wastebin beside the printer as she waited for the final pages to be inked with her work. Her eyes wandered from the machine to see a familiar face trying to flag her down and she immediately directed her attention back to the printer, silently cursing herself. Civilians couldn’t be considered as arch enemies, but if they could, Chad Harlington would be hers. 

“Pst, Vi, come on over!” The brunette beckoned in a tone that surpassed an inside voice which triggered everyone else in the room to look his way and Violet longed to use her powers for selfish reasons as she felt her peers began to focus on her. “Earth to Parr! I got a question for you!” 

The final page of the paper was dispensed and Violet took the fruits of her labor back towards the computer she had set herself up at, quickly closing down the station in attempts to vacate the scene before-

“Can I walk you home?” Came the cocky voice she had grown to loath instantly. She could just say no, but no always ended with him trailing her most of the way anyway. Hard to accuse someone of stalking when they lived in the same apartment complex. 

Straightening herself out, Violet sighed and let her shoulders drop.

“Sure. Why not,” she mumbled.

\---

Violet’s eyes were straight ahead the entire walk home. She was silent, but Chad didn’t pick up on the woman’s discontent. He was too busy trying to wake everyone in a five block radius. 

“And then I said, that’s no grizzly, that’s my ex!” Chad bursted with a series of laughs that would surely impress Screech. “Isn’t that funny?”

“Hilarious,” Violet retorted. She wasn’t in the mood to play nice, that ship had sailed about 12 hours ago. Now she just wanted to sleep. A stiff drink first and then sleep. An entire minute had gone by in silence. Violet felt a twinge of guilt come over her, feeling that maybe she had been a little too harsh to the guy but that clearly wasn’t the case as he was giving her  _ The Eyes. _

The ever ignorant ‘Hey, I like you and I suspect you are attracted to me too because you are nice to me’ eyes. A question was coming up, she could feel it hanging in the air and unfortunately there were still two blocks left. 

“Listen, Vi, if you aren’t doing anything this summer, my parents own this cabin out in the sticks-”

‘ _ Oh no, it’s worse than I thought. He isn’t just looking for a night, he wants to take my whole damn life!’  _ Violet thought bitterly. She had stopped listening to what he had to say but the pair stopped in their tracks to the unmistakable ‘click’ of a handgun’s hammer. With her attention drawn forward, Violet found herself staring down the barrel of a gun and right into the eyes of their potential mugger.

“Your money or your life,” the criminal growled. While he was aggressive in nature, Violet could hear that he was nervous. She had fought against at least a hundred villains up to this point, and he certainly wasn’t the cut of a bad guy. Most likely someone facing hard times, and this was a truly desperate measure. She felt she could talk him down, between her time in the field as a super and her majoring in criminal psychology, she had this in the bag.

“Listen sir, we don’t want any trouble,” Violet said, slowly lifting her hands up in surrender. “I’ll give you what I have but if you could just lower your-” Violet didn’t get to finish her request. A pair of hands had thrusted her forward with enough force to send her colliding with the gunman. 

Initially Violet feared that she had underestimated the man and that he was actually working with a criminal body, but as she and the gunman fell to the sidewalk, Violet saw Chad booking it down the street, screaming as he did so, leaving her and the masked man dumbfounded. Well, she couldn’t say she was surprised but the fellow who was trying to rob them seemed shocked.

“Is that your boyfriend? That’s pretty messed up!” The still potential robber said as he sat up. “He’s lucky I didn’t shoot you!”

And that’s when Violet began to laugh at the situation, confusing the man further. She was too sleep deprived to even begin to analyze what had just played out, but she had a suspicion that Chad wouldn’t be too eager to ask her out anymore. Shaking her head Violet got to her feet as well and started to walk away, but was pulled back.

“Hey, this doesn’t change anything you know, I’m still robbing you!” The man announced a little bit more boldly now, but with no civilians in sight Violet also felt more comfortable with the situation. 

Violet quickly turned to face the man that had saved her from further torment from Chad, and as she turned she summoned a small force-field to knock the weapon from his hand. She did risk exposing her ‘identity’ but she wasn’t as active in the field. To most, Violet Parr was simply a 26 year-old graduate student of Municiberg University. Her days of superhero work had been reduced to part time moonlighting only, and she intended to keep it that way.

“Sir, it’s late. Might I suggest you go home and search the help wanted ads in the morning?” Violet said as she dug out a partially used gift card to favorite cafe, Mocha Hut. “The coffee is on me, but that’s all I’ve got and I suggest you take it,” Violet said as she held it out. “The next person you try to rob might not be so nice.”

With nothing in hand to threaten the public with, the man took the card and ran, leaving his weapon behind. Violet shook her head as she picked up the firearm and stashed it into her canvas bag. She wasn’t fond of the idea of carrying a gun around, but thankfully she wasn’t going to have to hold onto it for too long. She didn’t have the opportunity to tell Chad off, but her summer plans were to start an internship with the NSA as early as next week.

\---

Violet awoke the next morning with a start as the landline telephone rang off the hook. Checking her alarm clock, Violet frowned seeing the red 10:15 on screen. She had slept nearly the entire morning away but at least she didn’t have to worry about class until evening. 

Ripping the sheets from her bed Violet rubbed her face as her bare feet trudged across the studio apartment floor and to the half wall that served as a bar counter separating the kitchen from the rest of the living space. Taking a deep breath, Violet picked up the phone and feigned the most cheerful retail voice she could muster.

“Violet Parr speaking.” 

“You didn’t make the cut, kid,” came the gruff voice of Rick Dicker. Violet was awake now. Few people on this earth could rain on her parade like Rick could. 

“What- but why not?!” Violet asked as she leaned into the wall, her free hand grasping a hand full of her messy black hair. “I don’t want to come off as a self centered jerk but, I’m the perfect fit!” 

“That’s the problem. HR doesn’t want you to be a paper pusher, they want you back on the streets,” Rick muttered from his office. His forced retirement had been brief. A condo in the sunshine state was no match against his love for the work that he did. However, at this moment he would have preferred to be sitting on some sandy beach with a mai tai in hand and soaking up the sun. It was more than bad luck that landed him with the responsibility of delivering the bad news to the Super, it was just the ease for the agency to have a familiar voice delivering the news.

Violet groaned in frustration. Had anyone else delivered the news to her she would have simply thanked them and hung up to go lick her wounds in bed. But it being Rick, she wanted to fight.

“But I don’t want my powers to define me!” 

“I know.”

“I can do so much more than recon and defense jobs!” 

“I know.”

“I want to stop the crimes BEFORE they happen! Not by slinking around warehouses and secret lairs, but by attacking the source and make meaningful and long lasting impact on society! Not just be a spandex band-aid!”

“I know,” Rick said, pinching the bridge of his nose. Violet had expressed keen interest in joining the NSA behind the scenes before she started college. She had shadowed him a handful of times while in college and applied for an internship every summer, and now she was on the cusp of graduation with no official time on the books with the NSA, meaning that her chances of getting in were slim to none by means of the traditional route. “Listen Violet- you’ve got more talent and insight to what goes on here than all the recruits combined, but you can do things that they can’t.”

“That street seems to go both ways, Rick,” Violet mumbled, another sigh came from the man on the other side of the line. 

“Look kid, I can’t give any names, privacy act and all, but there are some folks in the agency who went the long way around. Did their super deeds in their youth and retired into working with us simple folk. Could you consider a compromise there? You’d still get the terrible pay and mediocre benefits while doing a service to your country.”

Violet covered her face with her free hand and held her breath. She was coming due on rent and student loans were looming just around the corner. She had to find steady means of employment, sooner rather than later.

“Can I think about it?” Violet said absentmindedly. That was the one benefit of her abilities. There would always be a slot open for Invisigirl. 

“Take all the time you need,” Rick said sitting back in his chair. “Take care of yourself, Violet.”

“Thanks, you too,” Violet whispered before gently hanging up the phone. The calendar beside her was marked up with large X’s and circles, but her eyes focused on today’s date, a reminder of her criminal theory exam taking place today at 3:30 written in red. With nothing to celebrate and no ice cream in the freezer to mope with, Violet decided to get ready for the day and cram in one last study session. 

\--

Violet exited the library and made her way towards the lecture center that her exam was going to take place in. She was essentially on autopilot, only focused on each task as it came, and thankfully most of the campus occupants were also operating in that manner. But that blinders theory did not extend to visitors.

A group of men and women who were clearly business types passed by, all chattering pleasantries to each other. A tour group for wealthy donors no doubt. Violet hardly gave them a second thought, but one of the tourists did a double take.

“Is that Violet Parr?” Asked the incredibly infectious voice of Winston Deavor, stopping Violet dead in her tracks. Turning around she saw the CEO of DevTech break away from the group, muttering something about catching up later. He had gained some more gray hairs since she last saw him, but he was as energetic as ever.

“Heeey, there’s my favorite junior suuuuu, soup maker-! Yeah, Soup maker, I like that,” Winston mused as he grabbed his chin and chuckled before coming back to the present. “How have you been?! What’s it been, a couple of years since I last saw you? How’s the family?!”

“Hey Mr. Deavor,” she replied. Violet couldn’t help but smile. She had never met a more positive person in her life and wondered if the executive had a single negative cell in his body. “The family is all good, they're doing their things and I’m trying to do mine. What are you doing here?”

“Please, Vi, first name basis among friends, yeah?” Winston implored as he tugged the lapels of his blue suit jacket forward. “I’m in what you would call a bidding war. See all those schmucks over there? All of them are filthy stinkin’ rich! Turning out our pockets to support the college, which is a noble thing to be sure, but the unspoken rule is the highest donor gets a building or center named after them.”

Violet gave a half laugh and rolled her eyes. The response made Winston smile even wider as Violet had always been a tougher shell to crack.

“And I suppose next year students will be learning about Shakespeare in the Winston Deavor building?” Violet asked with a smirk. Winston chuckled and gave a shrug.

“That would be something, but you are half right. I am confident that I’m going to be victorious today but I’m here to represent my company. Since my sister is, well heh, you know my sister!-... Well DevTech has fallen a bit behind our goals. We’ve had to make some sacrifices over the years and made some deals, including a merger that’s underway- We but we are climbing back up! Anyway me and my newly engaged business partner are going in on this investment venture, providing more than enough funds to build a state-of-the-art technology center. Create a nice little pipeline that will get geeks and nerds to come work for us. It’s still a good cause but purely selfish reasons are attached here.” Winston said looking over his shoulder to see that some distance had been put between him and the rest of the group. “Actually, we’re all heading over to pitch our ideas to the college board now. Again, totally confident that I’m going to beat those suckers, but I could use a cheerleader in there.”

Violet shook her head but kept her smile. If enthusiasm was a superpower, he’d be the one wielding it. 

“Sorry Miste- err, Winston, but I actually have to take a final,” Violet said with some genuine reluctance. “I’m sure you’ll do great though.” Winston nodded and gave a wave to let Violet go but suddenly started to chase after her again. 

“Wait up, just one more second of your time,” Winston started as he passed her to block off her path. “What are your plans this summer?” The man asked and Violet blinked in response. “I mean you're a college student and you're in need of work this summer right? I’ve got the demand but not enough supply. I'm in need of some talent this summer to help for the merger. It isn’t the most exciting job in the world, filing papers, copy editing some stuff, typical lower tier office stuff but you’ll be well compensated I assure you.”

“I appreciate it, Winston, I really do, but I’m in need of something that can help get me into a government job,” Violet said as she scuffed her shoe against the sidewalk. She felt ridiculous, turning down an actual opportunity to chase her current goal but Winston was already pulling out his business card. 

“Look, trust me kid, you’ll want this one on your resume then. Politicians and their ilk love to snag people who are experienced with and can survive dry legal jargon,” he assured as he handed the card off and stepped aside to return to his field trip. “Just think it over, call me anytime and you can start anytime, got it?” 

Violet examined the card and gave a silent nod to Winston who, if possible, widened his grin.

“Spectacular. Best of luck on your exam!” Winston called before breaking out into a slow jog to get back to his business on campus, Violet waving him off before looking at the time on her watch and hurried along to her final.


	2. Kronos

Violet had called Winston as soon as she got home. It was a no-brainer when she really put things into perspective. While the folks at the NSA stood by and waited for the government to give the green light for supers to be reinstated, Winston threw all the resources and connections he had to get supers back on the scene, starting with her mom, Elastagirl. 

Violet arrived at Devtek in her Sunday best, which was just a purple dress with a bit of a professional flair to it. Winston said she could show up in her PJs if she really wanted given the fact that she would be tucked away in a boardroom for most of the time but she wanted to dress the part. And because it would be nice to dress for work that didn’t require a mask. 

Upon arrival to the 51st floor where a majority of her work would take place, Winston was waiting for her like an expectant family dog to be played with. Violet immediately chastised herself for likening her employer to a pet and stepped out of the elevator, her eyes wandering the walls before focusing on Winston who wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Oh jeez! I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to have you onboard, Violet,” Winston said, leading her into a room with stacks of boxes and several other interns who were elbow deep in documents. “Gang, this is Violet Parr, Violet, these fine young folks are part of your cohort!” Winston said as they exchanged waves. “You can get more familiar at lunch, but for now we need to get your paperwork underway,” Winston said ushering Violet back down the hall and into a single corner office.

“Listen, Mr. Deavor, I appreciate this opportunity but I really don’t require special treatment on account of, well, you know,” Violet said nervously as she tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. Winston shook his head as he laid out the usual legal forms for new hires.

“Nonsense! You might be my favorite junior soup maker but I’m not going to treat you any differently than the rest of the staff,” he said as he propped himself onto the desk. “Although, as long as we are on this subject, do you have any concerns about taking up a job here? Nobody other than me knows who you are here and it’s going to stay that way, but I have to ask, do your parents know that you are working here?”

Violet was taken aback by the question. She had yet to tell them about the job but she preferred to wait until it was official. Really and truly official before she gave out that kind of information. 

“I’ll tell them after the ink is dried,” Violet stated as she reached for a pen and began to fill out the paperwork, but she knew there was another question waiting in the wings. It was the same question every time yet it never got any easier answering it. “And you’d also like to know why I’m not interested in doing super work.”

“I would,” Winston confessed, craning his head towards her. “But that’s a personal question.”

“And asking if my parents know about my employment status isn’t?” Violet asked pointedly, her eyes fixated on her W9 form. 

Winston laughed as he moved off of the desk and moved towards the window. It wasn’t his office, this one was just vacant for the time being, but it did have an excellent view of the city he cherished so deeply. 

“I had to ask about the parents because I didn’t want to accidentally out you should I happen to cross their paths,” Winston stated as his eyes surveyed the city streets. “I have a lot of respect for supers, but I also respect you as an individual, Violet. My sister would say that the fourth amendment was killed by the very public it was made to protect, but I’d like to think that some parts of our lives can remain our own.” He turned his gaze to the window’s reflection of her staring at him, her eyes quickly darting back down to her documents. He smiled all the same and shrugged. “You are allowed to have secrets Violet, but I know that supers carry more than most. Should you ever want to lighten that load I want you to know that you can trust me,” Winston said, turning towards Violet again who held out her forms to him.

“Thanks, Winston.”

\----

What Winston said about the work was true. The merger contracts and stipulations read like stereo instructions and could make her old algebra textbook read like a thriller in comparison. An entire week had passed since she started working for Devtech yet the team had barely put a dent in copywriting and double-checking the paperwork.

“I must have read this paragraph at least a dozen times,” moaned a blonde-haired woman across from her. Tracy was her name, beyond that all that Violet really knew about her was that she drove a blue convertible and hated the smell of vinegar. “This job is really making me rethink applying to law school if this is what my life is going to become!” The outburst won a round of laughs at the table, Violet included. 

“Well. what would you do other than practicing law?” Violet asked as she circled a typo on one of her packets and turned the page. Tracy smiled at the inquiry and leaned forward, signaling the rest of the group to listen in closely. 

“If I could have any job, any job really, I would love to be the Speedster’s publicist,” Tracy whispered. “He’s so dreamy!” The other women at the table laughed and nodded in response but it took everything within Violet to not gag. Her silence on the matter was telling enough to the alpha female of the group. “Don’t you agree, V?”

Violet wanted to scream. The Speedster was the name that some journalist had coined for Dash years ago and the name just stuck. The day he graduated high school was the day he went on contract as a full-time hero. While she was proud of her little brother and wished him all the success in the world she absolutely hated the fact that he was idolized as a sex icon. He had appeared on several magazine covers and there were even talks of him doing cameo roles for action movies. 

“I’m going to take that as a no,” said Catalina from the end of the table. She was a foreign exchange student from Spain working on her master’s degree in public policy. “What is your type, Miss Violet?”

Violet ignored the question at first, but the silence at the table was filled with apprehension for her and she submitted to the peer pressure, even though she knew it would not be the juicy answer they would be looking for. 

“Well for one, I would prefer someone who doesn’t have rocks for brains,” Violet muttered, eyeing the now offended Tracy. “But I don’t really have a type or particular model I go for, I think I would just like to have someone who is kind and understanding. He doesn’t have to be this week’s most eligible bachelor, but he absolutely must have an IQ higher than two.” 

Violet won at least a nod of approval out of everyone save for Tracy who eyed her as though she had demolished her grandmother’s grave but didn’t push the issue anymore. It was the fellow sitting to Violet’s right, Gerard, who sparked the next conversation, and to Violet’s relief, it was work-related.

“I still can’t believe that DevTech is merging with Kronos Incorporated! Like I know it's great for us and the company as a whole, but honestly, it just doesn’t make any sense,” Gerard stated as he propped both of his elbows onto the table. “If I was the owner of Kronos, I would have just bought out DevTech and absorbed all of the subsidiaries, but this deal is the other way around! Who the hell forfeits a multinational brand name tech company just to let DevTech take credit?” The brown-haired guy exclaimed.

“I dunno man, it feels like a tax evasion plot to me,” said Andres from the seat closest to the door. If Violet had to pick a favorite at the table, it would be him but she wasn’t going to get herself too attached. He was taking the bar exam in a few weeks and while he had expressed the potential of remaining employed at DevTech, she knew that he wouldn’t be working as closely with the rest of the team as a lawyer. “It’s all out here in fine print, DevTech becomes the face of Kronos, sure, but all the dealings remain the same. Kronos is essentially just paying for a cloak and a passport stamp to the States.”

“So, this is going to come off as a really dumb question, especially since we’ve been combing over these forms for weeks now, but what the heck does this Kronos company do?” asked Gwen, a redhead that sat next to Tracy. Violet didn’t really know anything else other than her name. 

“Kronos is the largest European tech company in both size and revenue generation,” Gerard said as though he was the spokesperson for the company. “Moreover they have been dominating all things tech since, you know, the incident-” Gerard said, shifting his eyes to a Deavor family portrait. It was near-universal knowledge that Evelyn Deavor was the mastermind behind the Screenslaver. “It was expected that this time next year Kronos Incorporated would have surpassed DevTech in the American market, so if you ask me, this is just a ploy to slingshot beyond DevTech to conquer the rest of the American competitors in addition to gain a stronger foothold in the country. Kinda ingenious if you ask me,” Gerard said leaning back into the leather office chair.

“Well, what kind of products or services do they make?” Violet asked, perking Gerard up again. 

“Oh man, what don’t they make?! Entertainment systems, comms, transportation- a couple of years ago they started launching satellites into space! They even have an anti-terrorism line of products to help combat supervillains!”

Violet paused in thought at the amount of money and power this company had. If DevTech was able to pull supers out of hiding, Kronos could have catapulted superheroes into an industry of their own separate branch of government. She couldn’t place her finger on it, but the name of the company did seem familiar, but she was a bit of a geek for roman and greek mythology growing up, but that love affair had died her first semester of college. When she first got into Municiberg University she took up a course on Art History- it was the only elective that fit into her schedule and while she performed well in the class it still haunted her. It wasn’t the course work or even the professor that did her in, but a single painting nauseated her by mere thought alone. Francisco Goya’s  _ Saturn Devouring His Son _ .

The painting was created in the Romanticism movement but Violet would have placed this grotesque work in a classification of its own as pure nightmare fuel. Saturn was the Roman version of Kronos. Father of Gods and leader of the Titans, Kronos ruled over the earth after seizing the throne from his own father, and fearing that his own offspring might do the same, Kronos ate his children, swallowed them whole to imprison them in his own body. But that wasn’t how Goya depicted the tale. It was gory, and while Violet could handle real blood, but the way that paint formulated the scene hit her on an entirely different level, and that was where science came into play. The human eye is drawn to light before most anything else, and that rule applies to art as well, and the brightest thing within that painting was the semi-eaten body of a God. A pale corpse with bright red strokes serving as the placeholder of the head and missing arm, the other arm was halfway down the titan’s throat, and while the depiction of a dead body was enough to churn anyone’s stomach, what terrified Violet most about that particular painting were the eyes. Large, bulging with two black dark voids serving as the irises. The titan was monstrous, yet retained a likeness to man.

Violet didn’t know much about Kronos Incorporated, hell, there was still a lot of mystery surrounding the tech giant for even the most avid follower, but Violet just hoped that the name wasn’t meant to represent the attempt to cease progress. Given that Evelyn was the brains behind DevTech’s machines, Violet didn’t hold too much optimism for techies wanting to better the world. Only own it, and if they can’t do that, then destroy it. 

Standing from the table, Violet moved to the pile of boxes to continue with the process of checking and clearing the contracts, her hand ghosting over a stack of papers, pausing at the title. Employee Retention. This was one that should be in the care of Andres or at least someone who was interested in working long term for the company. She picked it up to bring it to the rest of the group's attention but not before picking up the following stack as well.

“So Kronos, it’s a Swiss company?” Tracy asked looking to Gerard who seemed to be the lone fanatic at the table. He shrugged in response and eyed the packets that Violet brought over, placing his hand on top of the set that Violet had intended to copy edit herself. A brief exchange of glares told Violet that it would be best to just let Gerard have them. There was still at least another hundred of these damn things to go through. 

“Well, yes and no. It’s based in Switzerland, but it’s got ties everywhere,” Gerard said as he began to leaf through the papers he claimed from Violet who was grabbing herself a new set to look after. “I’m betting that the founder is an American though.”

“Wait, you don’t know who runs Kronos?” Violet asked as she picked up the contracts regarding the charities that each respective company took part in and the future fates of the goodwill giving entities. 

“Well I know the guy's name, or at least can look him up- but the dude is a bit of a recluse. A workaholic type most likely,” Gerard said with a shrug. “James Everett I think, or something like that.” Violet frowned at the lack of knowledge and looked to Andres who had been working for Winston the longest.

“Has Mr. Deavor ever met this guy? Like in person? Surely this Everett guy has toured corporate at some point,” Violet pressed as she took her seat again, eyeing Andres as he searched the contract papers before him for the answers to her question.

“I don’t know. I don’t think so, but I wouldn’t put too much thought into it. Mr. Deavor is a bit of an outlier, you know? Most billionaire types keep to themselves. Besides, we’ll all get to see this guy at the end of the month, willing that we finish up this project. Mr. Deavor is making an event out of the merger signing. Cocktail party and all.”

“So do we have to work the event or do we get to join the party too?” Tracy asked as she propped her fists under her chin. Andres chuckled and nodded.

“Oh it’ll be a party for sure, just don’t get too liquored up and you’ll be fine,” Andres said as he reached for the employee retention agreements. “Then again, I don’t think anyone could blame us for hitting the bottles too hard after this assignment.”

\---

It took two and a half weeks to go over the rest of the print but the paperwork was officially out of the intern hands and in sole custody of the lawyers. Everyone teased Andres that in all possibility he would be assigned to the legal bindings once he was fully recognized to practice law. 

“If I ever have to read another one of those contracts it will be too soon, but I guess that’s why I’ll get paid the big bucks,” Andres bragged as the group waited outside of the elevator doors. The entire office staff had been released early to get ready for the party that evening, most everyone lived within a few subway stops, but Violet had at least a 45-minute commute each way, and rather than spending 2 hours going back and forth, Violet brought her outfit to work this morning. As the group piled in they all looked at her expectantly but a simple raise of her day bag sufficed as a response and they exchanged smiles and waves as the doors closed. 

Violet very well could have made the trip back and forth, but she wasn’t dressing to the nines and she didn’t plan on staying too late either. Her mission was simple. Do her job, make public appearances only when necessary and start dishing out her resume to every politician and ambassador she could. Glancing to a clock that read 3:30, Violet decided she would call her parents while finishing up some files. 

Setting herself up in the office that she had filled out her in processing forms, Violet dialed the number to the mansion that was still on loan to her parents from Mr, Deavor. Well, her parents treated it like a loan, but Winston had actually gifted the property to them the Christmas following the takedown of Screenslaver. 

“Parr residence, Helen speaking,” chimed her mother on the other side of the line. 

“Hey mom,” Violet started as she sifted through the papers, creating three separate piles. Shred, scan or file. “How’s it going?”

“Hey Violet! Oh it’s so good to hear your voice! How’s the job, when are you going to come visit?” Helen asked. Violet could hear her father asking who was on the phone in the distance and Violet steeled herself for the conversation to come with him.

“It’s going pretty great actually! I’m calling from the office actually. It’s not as exciting as your work, nor is it what I want to do but the work environment is pretty great actually.” Violet said as another line was opened.

“So when are you going to quit and join your old man at work again?” Robert Parr questioned which started a bickering match between her parents.

“Bob, you know that Violet doesn’t want to work in the field anymore!” Helen scolded. The sound of dishes being stacked could be heard as well.

“Which is her right and I fully support her,” Bob started. Violet didn’t even hold her breath for the time it took for her father to walk back that unyielding support. “Buuuut she is so good at what she does!”

“Dad,”

“I mean come on, you defeated how many bad guys? Dash may have the record for most captures but you still reign champ for foiling plots!”

“Dad, if you could please just-”

“You stopped that town hall bomb threat, took down the Rolland Family Crime Syndicate. Hell, you even found The Underminer’s lair!” Bob shouted enthusiastically. 

“Bob, you know why Violet doesn’t want to go active again,” Helen said a little more forcefully over the phone but Bob scoffed.

“Accidents happen! What happened at the pier- it was tragic but I don’t think that Tony would have-”

“Don’t you dare say his name!” Violet snapped and the lines went silent. Violet felt the familiar burning sensation in her eyes. “Please… can we just drop it?” Violet’s voice was more defeated than angry.

“I’m sorry sweetie,” her father’s voice reached out. “I know it’s tough- its part of the reason why I started dating your mother- And because I love her of course! But we live in a dangerous line of work…” Bob whispered as he sat on the couch, keeping eye contact with his wife who stood in the kitchen. “What happened that day… It wasn’t your fault. You have to know that.”

Silence again hung between the three of them. Every time she called this was the route that the conversation took. It always led back to Tony Rydinger, and that always ended with Violet running away. 

“I’ve got a party to get ready for. I’ll call you next week,” Violet whispered back, already pulling the phone away from her ear and back to the receiver, ignoring the desperate pleas to stay from her parents. 

Violet buried her face into her hands and suppressed the urge to cry. The last thing she needed was to have everyone from work grilling her about her puffy red eyes. The anniversary was coming up again, but the days never got any easier. Dicker had warned her of that too. 

‘When you lose good folks, it doesn’t get any easier, you just get a little harder,” he had told her when she had broken down unexpectedly. 

She just had to keep living in a way that worked for her, but it still didn’t feel right knowing that she was able to pursue things while he couldn’t. Violet wiped at her eyes and stared out the window. Maybe if she left town and got a fresh start she could leave the past behind, but Rick had refused to take part in that conversation, told her to think of her family. She did think of them, what stopped her from pressing Dicker further wasn’t that she couldn’t leave them, it was the fact that her dad had clung on to his glory days no matter how many times they moved. She asked Rick to let her just forget about it, but he couldn’t do that either.

Rising from her seat, Violet knew the rest of the filing work could wait until Monday. She had a party to get ready for and clearly the only thing she could change in this life was her outfit. Grabbing her things, Violet left the office and made way for the bathroom to get dressed for the evening.

Stepping out of the stall, Violet observed her reflection, thinking nothing of the woman standing before her in the orchid halter dress. She wasn’t the stick she once was, but she didn’t gain her mother’s hourglass form either. All in all, Violet just looked… normal. 

She was average height, average build, and overall just plain. And she liked that. If it were possible to be even more mundane she would be the first one on line. Moving closer to the mirror, Violet pulled out a small makeup bag that contained only three products. Mascara, eyeliner and a light pink lipgloss and she applied all three with little care before she stuffed her work clothes into the duffle bag and retreated back to the office she had left to store the bag until she escaped the mandatory fun. After hiding the bag underneath the desk she had been sitting at earlier, Violet made way for the top floor where the festivities would take place. 

It was still early, but there were already folks slipping in for the party and for the most part she recognized all of them from DevTech and she began to wonder if anyone from Kronos other than the abstruse billionaire would show. Her gaze scanned for someone familiar to cling to but her peers had yet to show face. Winston however was available and looked in need of emotional support as he nervously looked to his watch. Violet took that as he cue to move to him.

“Come on, come on, come on, he should have been here already…” Winston muttered before seeing Violet make his way to him. “Wow, Violet, you are looking phenomenal!”

“Thanks, Mr. D,” Violet replied before turning her head to the rest of the room. “Um, where is this future business partner of yours?”

“Oof, isn’t that the question of the night!” Winston fussed, though he was relieved that he wasn’t the only one asking that question. “You know Vi, a merger is a lot like a wedding, and showing up late to the wedding ceremony doesn’t exactly bode well for the union.” 

“Hey, it’s going to be just fine,” Violet said and smiled as she rested a hand on Winston’s shoulder. “They’ve still have plenty of time to make it, and if it makes you feel any better, my dad showed up an hour late to their wedding. They’re still going pretty strong, don’t you think?” 

Winton smiled more than the average person, but the look he was giving to her now was without a doubt the most genuine appreciation she had ever seen on someone’s face. 

“Thanks, kid. That does give me some hope actually,” the DevTech CEO replied before a faint buzzer went off at the top of the staircase wall behind them, exciting the middle-aged man to levels only a child should reach.“Oh! That must be him! Heli-pad entrance, installed last year just for him actually, though I hope it gets more use than just one night… Grab yourself something to drink and I’ll be back with my new partner!” Winston called as he hurried up the stairs.

Violet didn’t need to be told twice. Making her way back to the foyer area of the penthouse, to reconvene with the rest of the party, her sights set for a table in the back where the rest of the interns had gathered.

“Well well well. It would appear that Violet does have a type,” Tracy taunted as Violet grew near. 

“Hey, be nice!” Catalina chided, nudging Tracy as Violet picked off a passing glass of champagne and stared intently at the pair.

“What’s going on…?” She asked squeezing herself in between Andres and Catalina, Tracy standing directly across from her. The table held a decent amount of tension that Tracy was more than have to release. 

“Oh you know, just pleased that you found your type! Someone who is kind, understanding, twice your age and loaded with money,” Tracy said with a facetious tone. “We saw the way you two fawned over each other. I took you for a lot of things, Violet, but I wasn’t expecting you to be a gold digger.”

Violet was stunned by the assumption but quickly recovered, shaking her head.

“It’s really not like that at all,” Violet stated plainly, not wanting to draw too much emotion into the conversation. “He’s a friend of the family, and he’s like that with everyone!” Violet ended, making Andres nod in agreement.

“You know that’s true. I once watched that man hold a client hostage in conversation for twenty minutes because he saw their Fironic keychain,” Andre said as he raised his old fashioned glass filled partially with a dark liquor Violet assumed to be bourbon. “That man is a ham.”

Violet felt relief sweep over her knowing she at least had someone in her corner on this. Tracy opened her mouth to press the issue further but the attendees in the room began to move towards the staircase, a crowd already formed around the table where Winston and the founder of Kronos Incorporated where bent over, signing the paperwork with a few cameras flashing to capture the moment. The interns stayed in the back of the group, all trying to get eyes on the new boss, but between the wall of people and the bright bulbs Violet couldn’t seem to get a decent look but seeing Winston’s new associate could wait. What violet really wanted more than anything was to get back to her apartment and just curl up with a book as boring as that was. 

Walking to the farside of the room Violet sipped on her champagne as she took in the skyline. It was a clear night so she could peek down on the city below. She loved the city but she had to admit that even living in a place that was pushing over a million people she still felt isolated- though that was a problem she could make anywhere.

It was also a problem that was made for everyone’s best interest. 

Peering in the reflection of the glass she could see that Tracy and Gwen were gossiping about her. She didn’t require super hearing to figure that out. Catalina, Andres and Gerard had gone back to their table again and Violet figured she should join them briefly before making her escape. 

“And here is one of my favorite interns!” Winston proudly announced nearby, the praise making Violet flinch. Tracy was going to have a field day with this. “Violet Parr, I would like you to meet James Everett, the proud NEW partner of DevTech Industries!”

Violet brought out her best fake smile as she turned to greet the men who approached her, sticking her hand out before raising her eyes, and she wished that she had kept her hands to herself. Now clasping her hand in a firm shake was a ghost from her family’s past. It had to be a trick on her eyes, a few too many sips and not enough food perhaps, or maybe this was just some weird lucid nightmare, but the pressure on her hand felt too real.

“Hello, Ms. Parr,” said the man Violet knew as Syndrome. “It’s an incredible honor to meet you.”

  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Imposter

Violet was frozen as her eyes were locked with the man who had terrorized her family over a decade ago. Who had attempted to kidnap her baby brother, and caused so much destruction to the city she loved. Syndrome, who was responsible for killing nearly an entire generation of Municiberg supers, was not only alive and well but now he was the joint owner of DevTech.

Syndrome was the one to break contact, but Violet continued to stare in disbelief at the man standing before her, trying to figure out how any of this was possible. He should not have survived the plane crash. Rick said that his assets were under surveillance but here he was walking around like a free man! Ten years had changed him, but it was as clear as day that Syndrome was standing before her.

His hair no longer resembling a flame, but chopped and feathered back, still maintaining that vibrant orange-red. He had clearly lost weight or at least converted that weight into muscle as his frame was packaged into a cut blue suit with a white shirt and black tie. His jawline was more defined than she remembered, but the eyes were the same. Ice blue orbs that pierced right through her. 

“It would seem that I broke your intern,” Syndrome joked, winning a laugh out of Winston. 

“So it would seem! So it would seem,” Winston agreed as Violet was coming back to reality. “Ooo- listen I need to talk to my PR team real quick. Don’t move and I will be back in a jiffy!” Winston said before he abandoned the pair and hurried across the room.

Violet wanted to reach out to keep Winston near but failed to even move her gaze from Syndrome’s face which was now focused on her again. A smug grin across his face. She no longer wanted to go home and curl up with a book. Her one desire now was to punch this man’s face. But she couldn’t do that either. Doing so would end up poorly for her reputation.

“What. Are. You. Doing. Here.?” Violet managed to ask through gritted teeth.

“Well, I just signed a merger for DevTech and Kronos Incorporated, or did you not see that?” Syndrome asked as he raised up his scotch glass to his lips. “No matter, you can read all about it in the papers tomorrow,” Syndrome said with a shrug making Violet clench her hands into fists, but she relaxed the hand that held the flute glass. 

“What I meant to ask was how are you here?” Violet muttered under her breath. “You should be a crisp. Nothing but ash and dirt in an empty suburban lot-” Violet said bitterly and Syndrome’s grin widened. 

“Oh, you are a dark, moody little thing aren’t you? The office must love that ball of sunshine,” the villain cooed as his eyes looked over the young woman. “I’d love to tell you, but a magician never reveals his secrets,” he said as he stepped around her and closer to the windows, the ice cubes in his drink clanging against the glass as he swirled the liquid. “I knew that Winston was a sucker for supers, I just didn’t think he’d hire his own personal bodyguard. Though you certainly wouldn’t be my first string for protection,” the man muttered as he cast his gaze down to her and smirked, Violet returning a glare in response. 

“I’m calling the NSA,” Violet growled as she turned to walk away only to be caught by the arm. Turning her head over her shoulder, Violet’s eyes met Syndrome’s again. “Let go of me,” she growled which only seemed to amuse the villain. 

“So quick to spoil my honeymoon with Winston are we?” Syndrome asked as he pulled her closer. “Surely you could handle me yourself, super.”

“I don’t need powers to stop you,” Violet hissed back, her eyes darting to Winston’s position. How had no one else recognized him? Surely the resemblance hadn’t been lost completely, yet Winston stood right next to him and hadn’t said a word! “Does he know who you are? What you’ve done?” Violet asked as she ripped her arm from his hold. Syndrome shrugged and glanced at Winston’s direction as well.

“I’ll admit, it was a bit risky on my part, but seeing your reaction alone was well worth it,” Syndrome grinned. Taking a sip from his glass again he shook his head and began to scan the rest of the room for any other potential guests he should be aware of. “But no, he doesn’t seem to have a clue, which makes sense when you consider that I didn’t even get my full fifteen minutes of fame. Your family hogged up all of the limelight there. Come to think of it, the only coverage I received was a few brief sentences in a couple of articles, oh, and that tabloid feature!” Syndrome said with a chuckle. “Either the Daily Trumpet has a Seer on their staff or a very good imagination because they were right on the money… But you can’t believe everything you read, right?” Asked the ginger brute with a shrug. “Though I have to say this is a little disappointing. I was honestly hoping the rest of your family would be here. I thought that you were all closer, especially given that he gave your family my second favorite mansion,” Syndrome muttered as he finished his drink and set the glass down on the table beside him, missing Violet’s shocked expression.

“Come again?” Violet asked in disbelief but it wasn’t too far-fetched when she really considered it. The house had belonged to an eccentric billionaire and the mansion was loaded with secret entrances. The only way the humble home could have been more outlandish was if it was on a private island, which the record would show that he had already owned.

“Oh yes, I must admit I was rather upset what I found that out myself, but seeing you all squabble about was like my own personal sitcom,” Syndrome said as he shoved his hands into his pockets, this time relishing the panic on the woman’s face. “There is a camera in every room in the house with the ability to record sound. All in real-time too.”

Violet’s face paled at the comment, her hands itching to pull out her hair from the mortifying reality that Syndrome had eyes and ears on them for years. This begged the question: “Why didn’t you attack us?” Violet asked out loud. She didn’t mean to, but her filter had begun to decay the minute that she made contact with him.

“Eh, I considered it. Could still do it right now actually but believe it or not I have renounced my ways of evil… Just as you have stopped your days as being a do-gooder.” Syndrome said with a grin, swearing that he heard something pop in the super’s head. 

“You don’t know a damn thing about me, and I don’t think you can nor should be allowed to turn over a new leaf. Certainly not after MURDERING so many of my dad’s friends. I don’t know how you survived that plane crash but you are not going to get away again,” Violet hissed back as Winston was making his way back to them and Violet took a few steps forward to warn the unsuspecting CEO. “Mr. Deavor, there is something I need to tell you,” Violet started before Syndrome wrapped an arm around her shoulder and she went stiff, giving her enemy the upper hand.

“Violet here has graciously offered to get me acclimated to life in Municiberg,” Syndrome lied and the look of excitement grew on Winston’s face while dread spread throughout the body of the super. “I’m sure she is a  _ super _ hard worker and I would hate to pull her away from any pressing jobs but-”

“Ah ah, say no more!” Winston Deavor urged with his hands up. “I will release Violet Parr to your side for now, but I hope you won’t keep her too long!” Winston said looking over his flock of workers and supporters. “I’m glad you two were able to link up, but I have to steal my partner back and introduce him to the rest of the team,” Winston said, signaling for Syndrome to follow, who gave a wink to Violet before turning his head forward and let Winston usher him into the fray of buzzed corporate workers. 

Violet knew that Winston was too trusting, but she didn’t expect the entire room to just melt into Syndrome’s palm. Violet walked the perimeter of the party attendees, listening in as Syndrome won over men and women with simple crack jokes, though it wasn’t hard to warm up to someone else with Winston egging them on.

“He’s not what I was expecting,” Gerard said suddenly to Violet with a glass of red wine held out to her. Violet took the beverage without question and shook her head.

“You’re telling me,” Violet muttered as she gulped down half of the glass. There was no way for her to communicate the problem to her peers without outing her and her family’s identities. That was really the only thing that kept her from breaking something in his face. “I’ve gotta get going, busy weekend and all,” Violet mumbled as she turned for the door, ignoring Gerard’s pleas to stick around a little while longer. 

Violet walked into the elevator on her own, drinking the remains of the wine on her way down to the floor she had left her work clothes on. The sensation of nausea began to come over her. Syndrome was alive. He was alive and up to something. Something terrible. 

Arriving on the floor Violet pushed herself off of the elevator railing to walk out but stumbled over her own feet. Confusion swept over her now. She only had two drinks, and while her body type did scream lightweight there was a point in time where she would pound a bottle of wine and still be sober enough to walk a straight line. Something wasn’t right. Her now hazy gaze went to the empty glass in her hand and suddenly she could hear her RA’s speech in her head on the dangers of going to parties alone and taking drinks from strangers. The glass slipped from her fingers and rolled across the carpet floor. Realizing the error she made, Violet pushed herself for the corner office she had stashed her clothes in. She wasn’t going to be able to escape, she could only barricade herself and call for help.

Closing the door behind her, Violet felt for where a lock should have been but none existed. She cursed and motioned for the desk to grab the telephone but fell to the floor instead. She was fighting a losing battle but she would be damned if she gave up entirely. Pulling herself back up, Violet crawled on her hands and knees to the desk, the faint ding of the elevator landing on the floor rang behind her. Was there enough time?

She grabbed the edge of the desk and pulled herself up to take hold of the phone and began to dial her family’s number, holding the phone to her ear as footsteps neared the office door. The dial tone was deafening to listen to but she had to hold out, just a minute longer.

“Parr residence,” came her mother’s voice as the door to the office opened up to reveal Gerard’s silhouette.

“Mom! It’s Syndrome, he didn’t-”

“Sorry we can’t get to the phone right now. Please leave a name and number so we can call you bah-” Her mother’s voice cut out as Gerard leaned close and clicked the phone’s plungers, ending the call. Violet, defeated raised her eyes up to her contemporary in pain and confusion.

“Why?” She managed to muster. The young man was silent for a moment, and Violet couldn’t make out if there was even a hint of regret in his features.

“It’s nothing personal. It was just really good money,” Gerard stated before throwing the bag over her head and her world went black.


	4. Withdrawal

_It's a warm summer day on the Municiberg County Beach Pier, but the sea breeze offers relief to the beachgoers._

_Seagulls are flying overhead, squalling and searching for their next easy meal while children are laughing as they run back and forth between carnival games and their parents. These sounds don't even register as background noise to Violet Parr. Her only focus is on the sound of Tony Rydinger's voice as he recounts a fiasco that happened at The Happy Platter._

_"And then FLOOSH! Next thing you know the salad is on fire and John is running to get ANOTHER bucket of water for the grease fire- I couldn't believe it Vi, oh man I wish you could have seen it!" Tony exclaimed as he combed both his hands into his chestnut hair._

_"That does sound pretty wild," Violet said with a laugh, admiring the way his eyes gleamed when he smiled._

_It was hard for her to believe that they had been dating for five years, harder still to consider that she would never have to wake up at the crack of dawn to catch the bus to Sticksville High School. They had graduated three weeks ago and had their whole lives ahead of them. He would be attending classes at Munciberg community college while he continued to work part-time at his dad's restaurant and she would take on hero work full time. He knew that._

_She had told him everything. Her powers, her family, Nomanisan Island, Screenslaver, The Underminer, and other villains she helped take down- everything. And this time he didn't run away. If anything he came closer. They were young and in love and saw the world with rose-tinted glasses. Everything was wonderful._

_Tony opened his mouth but a scream breaks out at the docks entrance and Violet's head snaps in the direction of the sound and-_

\--

Violet wakes with a start. It's a slow start but she starts.

Her head is pounding and she hesitates on moving at all but the sensation of silk against her body feels all wrong. She doesn't know where she is and this fact should terrify her but she only feels sick and confused.

She takes her time to sit up as her stomach threatens to flip at every move she makes. It's like being sick again as a kid, only this time there is no mom or dad to check in on her, and whoever is around to check in on her can't be good. But she takes comfort in the fact that she is still wearing the clothes from the night before and the only aches she has are in her head and stomach. The white metal bracelet on her wrist was unfamiliar as well.

'Breath, just breath,' Violet coached herself and she starts looking around the room to get an idea of where she is, but the room is mulled by her still drug-induced sight and darkness but she can tell she is in a bedroom and a large one at that. She begins to shift her body towards the side of the bed that is closest to her. Swinging her feet off the side, Violet's feet touch an unforgivingly cold hardwood floor and she starts to stand, but the moment her body is off the mattress her body crumples to the floor with a thud. Violet wants to groan with frustration, but she has already made too much noise. Eventually, she reaches the wall and she begins to climb it, using it to act as support as she begins to feel her way out.

Her hand dips slightly in the structure, cloth replacing the solid wall. She peels the curtain aside and is confronted with daylight, blinding her momentarily but she allows her eyes to adjust. Blinking a few times, Violet is able to tell that the building is large but it isn't a skyscraper, meaning she was plucked from the city altogether. In fact, there isn't another building in sight. All she can see from the second story window is the treeline starting 50 yards from this edge of the building. Still having no clue where she is, Violet pulls the curtains open more to light up the room.

It's larger than her entire studio apartment, and the decor, while minimalistic, proved that the place belonged to someone with expensive taste. There was a large quilted chair on the opposite side of the room with a nightstand and a lamp tucked in between the chair and the bed. There was also a writing desk and a bookcase set in the wall that faced the bed, a door on both sides of it but Violet was cognitive enough to know those doors weren't exits, it would be the third door that stood a few feet from the quilted chair.

Confident that she could stand on her own two feet, Violet walked across the room, intent on escaping from the room but the boldness vanished as she made it to the wooden door. Was it possible that someone had locked her in? There was only one way to find out.

Taking the chance, Violet was rewarded with the satisfaction of being able to leave the room but now burdened with the task of finding the next exit, or whoever took her but pieces from her missing puzzle began to come back to her mind. The last thing she remembered was being at DevTech, a pair of blue eyes and the desire to contact her parents.

Sighing silently in frustration, Violet pressed on down the hall, gaining more balance and memories as she moved. Coming to a staircase, Violet quickly descended it to land in an open living space, bookcases lining the walls, couches loveseats, and chairs centered, with a few abstract paintings hanging on the walls. From this point, she can see there is a kitchen tucked around the corner and behind a wall to one side, and on the other, there appears to be a set of frosted glass doors. She quickens her steps to run to investigate the doors but stops at the sound of a familiar voice.

"That's far enough, Parr," Syndrome calls from the top of the staircase and while most of the night is still lost on her it is all too obvious that he is alive and that is all she needs to know.

Ignoring the order Violet sprints towards the glass doors, she hears him sigh and believes she is going to be able to outrun him. What she doesn't know is that Syndrome hasn't been willing to chase after anyone since her father.

Tapping the device on his wrist that was indistinguishable from a watch, Syndrome prompted a silent command to another device. The bracelet on Violet's wrist sent out a series of beeps before lighting up blue and then electricity coursed through her body. Violet crashed to the floor as her muscles spazzed and seized painfully from the running currents.

"You know, it might be in your best interest to take my advice when I give it," Syndrome stated as he made his way down the stair and over to her position as the volts ceased. "We'll be spending an awful amount of time together, and I would hate to see you get hurt."

Violet rolled slowly onto her side to make eye contact with her captor. He was dressed for the day, business casual, with dark gray slacks, a steel blue button-up shirt, and brown shoes, one of them gently prodding her ribcage as he bent over at the waist with his hands clasped behind his back. No outfit would be complete for the bastard without the addition of a smug grin.

Violet didn't hesitate to throw out her hand, expecting her forcefield to deliver a punch for her but she only pushed the air. Disarray overcame her once furious expression and Syndrome laughed with glee.

"Like that huh? One of my newer inventions. Right now, thousands of minor electric waves are pulsing through your nervous system, blocking your abilities and making you- pausing for dramatic effect- AVERAGE! Pretty neat right?" asked the apparent sadist, grinning all the while. "Yeah, I'm still workshopping the name with some folks but I'm pretty sure the Super Antidote Device will make the cut. I mean I can't ignore the possibility of calling it SAD."

"Like I said to you before, I don't need powers to handle you!" Violet growled before she swept him off his feet with a hook of her ankle. Syndrome wasn't expecting the move, and rather than running away again Violet went on the offense, lunging at Syndrome while he was down. He was surprised again but prepared this time as a light blue beam fired from his watch. His signature Zero Point Energy ray.

Chuckling partly out of relief but mostly from amusement, Syndrome got back onto his feet as he held Violet in mid-attack and mid-air.

"You are just full of surprises! You really are the spawn of Mr Incredible. You've got the moves, the grits, even catchy snaps, oh man," Syndrome chided before setting Violet down several feet back and released the hold on her. "Now then, can we get down to business, or do I have to zap you again?"

Violet's silence was answer enough for the villain and he gave a nod and moved for the kitchen, stopping to see if she was going to follow or if he would have to drag her along via Zero Point Energy. Violet rolled her eyes and dragged her feet behind Syndrome who now had a pep in his step.

"Coffee, tea, OJ?" Syndrome asked as they walked into the glossy chrome kitchen, a dining room just beyond the kitchen island. Violet watched as his fingers punched a code into the wall, half expecting a machine gun to come out of the sink but instead and a device popped out of the wall with a white mug centered and a stream of coffee going into said cup. If she was in any other home, Violet would have been impressed, but her loathing for the man was more influential to her current mood.

Delivering an inquisitive look, Syndrome raised his cup to his lips but did not draw from it, waiting for Violet to answer him. "I can also make you some hair of the dog if you need something to even you out," Syndrome proposed, frustrating Violet further knowing that if she survived this man she may never drink again.

"Tea. Please." Violet muttered and Syndrome punched in a new code. Hot water poured into a new cup that had siphoned into the contraption and Syndrome pulled out a tin box from a cupboard.

"Milk, sugar… Whiskey?" Syndrome tempted as he plopped a tea bag into the cup and Violet rolled her eyes as she reached for the mug.

"I think I'd rather not have you handling my drinks from here on out," Violet said, as she began to bob the tea bag up and down by the string. It was incredibly odd to be talking over coffee and tea with a villain as though it was nothing. A villain who should have been dead to top that. He did however point out that he had the tactical advantage. For now. "So… Why am I here?" Violet asked, her eyes peering from behind the cup as she took the first sip, trying her best not to react to Syndrome's satisfaction.

"I may have lied to you at the party last night. I'm not entirely done with my shenanigans," Syndrome started off, and Violet feigned a look of shock.

"Nooo, and here I thought you just wanted me over for breakfast to chat about turning over a new leaf," Violet exclaimed, faking shock. Syndrome was no stranger to sarcasm. If anything he was fluent in the language.

"I know, I know, I've led you astray," Syndrome said, shrugging off the pressure of no longer having to pull wool over the super's eyes. "I've got to be honest though, you were not part of the plan. Not originally at least," Syndrome stated as he set his coffee onto the counter and ran a hand through his hair. "You were just a happy accident that I had to take advantage of," Syndrome said before realizing the poor choice of words. "Shit- that's not what I meant!"

"Oh, I know," Violet bit back though she was thankful to know she wasn't molested at some point in the kidnapping. "You're a murdering war criminal and sexual assault is beneath you, but kidnapping isn't. Right?"

Syndrome's tongue prodded the inside of his lower lip. She was much faster than her father when it came to banter. He could appreciate that much at least. The hand that was in his hair slid down to the side of his temple as he formulated his next statement a little more carefully.

"Moving on… The merger has been in the works for years. Corporate unions don't just happen overnight! I went back underground after the whole jet accident and started my work all over again. Sort of," he said as he picked his mug back up. "I just rebranded my stuff, spread my accounts around, and continued to make great products. I was pretty content just selling my stuff to both sides of every major conflict in the last decade, but you know I just couldn't resist the chance to make an economic impact to my home town-"

"You mean the city you nearly destroyed for the sake of your ego?" Violet interjected, Syndrome ignored the dig.

"When I heard that DevTech was falling behind in the race I jumped to get back in. Kept my distance, of course, communicated mostly over the phone, an occasional representative to take my stead here and there, maybe a gift basket or two. It was all lining up so perfectly! So, could you imagine my surprise when I find out that Little Miss Disappear started working for DevTech mere weeks before I tied the knot and paid the lawyers? I panicked! Municiberg's greatest detective goes under the radar for a few years and then their 'secret identity' starts working at the company I've been courting?! Oh man, I interrogated so many of my inside guys over it, nearly pulled out of the whole operation but I came to find out that it was purely a coincidence," Syndrome said lowly and shook his head as he raised the mug up to drink the last few sips. "But of course I can't have you compromising me so early into the game. Had you skipped the party, you wouldn't be here right now. Isn't that nice to know?"

"You're not going to get away with this," Violet stated simply. There wasn't any rage, nor bitterness in her voice. The words were said like a fact she had pulled from a textbook. "I might have been the only one to recognize you last night but your photo is going in all the papers and-"

"I seem to recall that your father is an avid reader of the Metroville Tribune, now where did I put that paper," Syndrome whispered before looking to the kitchen island where there laid several different publications which Violet now stared at with anticipation and Syndrome waved his hand to the pile. "Go on, let's see which paper broke the news that the dastardly notorious Syndrome is alive and now owns half of DevTech."

Violet didn't need to be asked twice. Setting the mug down Violet began to search each of the papers, a merger wouldn't make front-page news, but surely someone would have made the connection. But all of the front page stories featured her family stopping a bank heist. Maybe there was a page three story on Syndrome's return?

As Violet tore through the various papers and journals, Syndrome helped himself to a second cup of coffee, hardly able to contain himself at the frustrated sounds the super behind him made.

"Why don't you check the business section?" Syndrome said idly as he moved to perch himself against the other side of the island.

Violet glared at Syndrome but followed the suggestion. At the very least his photo would be there and her family would know he was still a threat. But there was no photo in her father's favorite paper. The few photos that were published were either showing the DevTech tower or random party attendants with Winston shaking hands. The only photo that Syndrome at all had a burst of light that managed to cast a shadow over his face. He would remain to be a ghost.

"Nobody pays attention to this stuff," Syndrome said tapping on one of the articles that included his new identity. "So much criminal activity goes on in boardrooms and political halls, but even when it does make the news nobody really cares. Journalists, in my own personal opinion, are like vampires. They only care if you bleed."

"People will look for me," Violet started. "My last known whereabouts were at the party."

"Well it's a good thing I wasn't the last one seen with you," Syndrome pointed as he leaned into the island more. "Gerard is the real hero of the night, for me anyway. One thing that my political donors have taught me is that you always have a fall guy. Wave enough money in someone's face and they'll walk barefoot right into hell for you. And that's exactly what Gerard did, and will continue to do." Syndrome said while flashing his teeth. "Because everything will point to Gerard being the suspect but if there's no body or DNA to show foul play-"

"There's no evidence," Violet finished for him, her air of confidence was gone, but some hope remained. "The police might not be able to get him to confess but when my family gets to him he'll tell them everything!" There was no doubt in Violet's mind that Gerard would be able to withstand an interrogation from Mr. Incredible, even less so if Jack-of-all-Trades was on the case too but Syndrome chuckled.

"That's assuming they even get to talk to Gerard. Bad things happen in the city every day," he said with a shrug as he brought his mug back up to his lips. Violet's wheels were spinning now, looking for anything that could stick, but she was coming up empty, and being the gentleman that he was, Syndrome would fill in the blanks.

"Here is how it's going to go down. Monday I'll fly to DevTech for my first day, expecting a grand tour from Winston's prized intern. It'll be so unlike you to be a no call no show, but you are a super after all and Winston will let it slide, thinking that maybe you had to take up some last-minute hero job and neglected to tell him." Syndrome's logic wasn't off on that. If anything Winston would be thrilled under the assumption she got back into the field. "At this point, you have already been missing for over 48 hours, and the first 48 are the most crucial! Tuesday morning we go through the same thing, only now Winston is getting a little nervous. This really isn't like you at all. He decides to call your parents to check in, catch up, and ask about you. Now the investigation is underway."

Violet walked away from Syndrome and into the dining area to sit. She looked worn, the gravity of her situation was finally beginning to set in. Syndrome turned his body around to face her and continued.

"Now it would be rather suspicious for the Incredible family to invest in one intern who could just be playing hooky. So, the dutiful parents file a missing persons report while they snoop what they can. It'll take the police a few days to get around to it but eventually, they come and do the interviews and check what CCTV they can. I'm immediately cleared of suspicion because I left off the roof, Winston personally escorting me to my aircraft, but you go down the elevator, and Gerard follows behind you." Violet stared down at the table's surface at a loss for words, but Syndrome kept going. "The obvious answer is likely to be the right answer. The police book him but again, no evidence so Gerard gets to make bail… and then Gerard gets a tombstone with his name on it." Syndrome said with a smirk before he makes his way to the table, sitting across from Violet and as giddy as a kid in a candy store. "Case goes cold and there is nowhere to pick the trail back up for our heroes. Violet Part is presumably a victim of a deranged young male with a considerable IQ and a questionable childhood and the story will write itself from there."

Violet's eyes met Syndrome's again briefly before looking back down to her hands. She wanted to hide, but the device on her wrist kept her from doing so. Her mouth was dry but there was something else she needed to know for her next move. If she had any more moves to make.

"So what's going to happen to me?"

Syndrome grinned leaning back into the chair.

"I thought you would never ask."


	5. Kleptomania

Buddy Pine was many things. He was an inventor, an opportunist, a newly inducted billionaire and on the low, he was still an arms dealer. He had enough intelligence and wealth that he could essentially set out and become anything he wanted. Almost anything at least. The one thing he could no longer buy himself into was being a super.

He could never be a hero. He had learned that lesson rather painfully, and though he didn't necessarily become stronger from the injuries he sustained it did make him wiser. He didn't need to engage in physical battles, his money could take down every obstacle before it became a problem. He didn't require the talents or gifts supers had to be powerful, he had gained that through the empire he had built and would continue to expand. The most important lesson of all was one that he had carried with him for years but still failed to adhere to.

He didn't need anyone. And after learning of Mirage's part in helping Mr. Incredible and his family off the island he cemented that creed into his head. Part of him, a very minuscule fraction of him, had considered repaying his former lover for the damage she had done, but ultimately it wasn't worth the time nor thought process. 

His future of being a hero may have been squashed before he could bask in the glory of adoring crowds, but fame was overrated. It was also terrible for business, and business was booming. With supers back on the streets there was a high demand from criminals to level the playing field again, and who better to provide the means to take out supers than him? And with every other sorry criminal wielding a blaster that could knock the guardians of the world into next week, Kronos Incorporated could step in and make the world feel a little safer. 

Buddy Pine was simply doing his civic duty to fuel capitalism, the only true religion on earth, with what it needed most; supply and demand. Getting financial compensation for his work was great of course, but his reward was finally in his hands, and his revenge came in the form of Violet Parr. 

He hadn't forgotten his taunt's to his former role model, the promise to steal Mr. Incredible's youngest child was something that he had fully intended to carry through with. However, the kid was unpredictable and judging by the footage captured within the Parr household he was still largely untameable. At least by conventional means, but that pipedream would have to wait because as far as he was concerned, Invisi-girl was going to not only sate his thirst for revenge, but she'd make him richer too. 

"So what's going to happen to me?" Violet asked him at long last.

"I thought you would never ask,” Pine said as he leaned back in his chair. Victories came for him all the time, but nothing could compare to the high he was getting currently. Was this what petty criminals felt when they managed to pull off a successful heist? Violet wasn’t the first super he had snagged, nor would she be the last if he could help it, but it was the steal of the decade for him. “You and I are going to do great things together,” he stated as his hand reached for a small remote on the table and pressed a red button that sat on top of the device and a screen descended from the ceiling, hanging over the far end of the dining table. What looked like a war movie was an infomercial for Kronos Incorporated. Weapons and high tech machinery displayed doing their functions soundlessly as he muted the sound. 

“See, I’ve run into a bit of a wall for my side hustle. The tech that I’ve created for Kronos is just too good! I can’t have Kronos Incorporated dishing out faulty equipment but I also don’t want to disappoint my delinquent fanbase,” Pine stated simply before he rose to his feet. “So I need you to be my heroic little lab rat and find the weak points on the latest line of security and anti-terror tools.” 

Violet whipped her head from the screen and up to his face, her expression somewhere between horrified and disgusted. 

“That’s not going to happen!” Violet shouted as she placed her hands on the table. 

“Willing to bet on that?” He enjoyed a good fight, but he was eager to get testing underway.

With the remote still in his hand, he changed the channel to feature her parents and Jack-Jack all in the kitchen for breakfast. Violet pushed the chair out and ran to the screen to get a closer look at her family. She was glad to see that they were okay, but the fact that she had eyes on them at all did not bode well for the future.

“Now, as we both know your breed is pretty hard to damage, but that doesn’t mean you are indestructible... “ Pine mused as he set the remote down, his eyes still on the woman who watched her family with a familiar sense of longing. “I’ve had the place rigged for years with all sorts of self destruct options, one never knows when you need to fake your death, but thanks to your old man those measures are still in place. I could blow the joint in the middle of the night and make your baby brother an orphan or maybe set off one of the nerve agents I have, just to keep the family together.”

Violet turned her eyes to him. Horrified at the notion her jaw was slack, wanting to produce some form of objection but nothing came out. He grinned triumphantly and clicked the remote again, the television receding back into its home. 

“That’s what I thought,” Pine said as he set the remote back down on the table and moved for the way they came in. “Come along, Parr. Let’s get the tour underway.”

Violet looked to where the television locked itself into than to the remote before she reluctantly followed him back out into the hall and towards a bookcase that opened to a secret elevator. Once inside the door shut behind them and the compartment was in freefall, Violet was knocked off balance and clung to the wall for support while Buddy remained as still as a statue, his feet planted firmly on the ground. As suddenly as the descent came the elevator halted and the doors quickly opened. Violet was hesitant on exiting but an expectant look from the man was all that was needed to get her out the door and into what looked like a military base. 

Walking ahead with his hands clasped behind his back, Buddy surveyed the automated construction below the platform they were on. He didn’t have to worry about machines disappointing him, nor did he need to cover payroll for them. Most importantly they wouldn’t feel emotions such as guilt, empathy or scorn towards him. They didn’t feel anything. They were truly the perfect workforce.

Stopping before a large set of metal doors with a large white 3 painted overhead, the doors opened to reveal a locker room and Violet stepped inside but Buddy remained outside. Violet eyed him with suspicion before the doors separated them, locking her into the room. Violet panicked and threw herself against the doors, causing him to roll his eyes. As he listened Violet pound her fists against the metal and he pressed his finger onto an intercom beside the door.

“I would save those fists for something that fights back, super,” he warned, his eyes hovering over the screen that displayed the inside of the room. 

“What the hell are you playing at?” Violet called as she searched for the source of his voice and found the speakers and surveillance camera. 

“You see the door on the other side?” He asked and her head turned to the single sheet of metal that served at the door. “Good. Get dressed and I’ll meet you on the other side for your first assignment. Unless you want to have a workout in that prom dress.” 

Violet had muttered something but the speakers didn’t pick it up. He considered asking her to repeat herself but she turned her back to the door and started to check the lockers for something to change into. Satisfied with her compliance, Buddy moved down the platform and walked through a smaller set of doors that led to a catwalk, on each side of him there was a field about the size of a soccer field. The one to his right was a contained tundra environment, complete with whiteout conditions and temperatures that could drop well below freezing, the one on his left was a field that resembled a fallen out city. Violet stepped out onto this field in a black jogger suit that had white stripes racing down the sleeves and pant legs, his company logo, a white snake in the shape of an ‘S’ with a gold grain stalk running straight on down through the serpent. 

Their eyes met again and Violet motioned towards him but the sound of the bracelet turning off caught her attention. Realizing she had control of her powers again, Violet raised her fists, now wrapped in her force fields and the man chuckled at the sight. 

“One of these days I might give you the opportunity,” Buddy said before he punched a code on a pin pad on the toughened glass and seven mechanical menageries were introduced on the other side, each of them mounted with a turret. “But in this house, we work before we play.”

\--

Sitting in front of multiple monitors, Buddy ran through the play-by-play in test chamber 3 for the tenth time. It was clear that the super was out of practice, but she still held her own. It had taken her exactly 12 minutes and 32 seconds to take out the five droids, but he knew she could have done it in less had she not spent the first two minutes screaming at him from the safety of her forcefields.

While jotting down some notes, his eyes went over to the screen that displayed the locker room which currently doubled as a holding cell for the super. He would have to fetch her soon, though he was tempted to let her spend the night in the windowless, tile room if only to kill her morale. He fully expected the super to try to pull one a fast one again. He would have to be mindful to keep his distance. 

Bringing his attention back to his work, Pine watched closely as Violet sliced the final mechanical droid with her shield. Tapping the notepad before him with the back of his pen, Buddy began to question how that ‘kill’ was possible. It shouldn’t have been possible to cut the frame in half like that. Like a majority of his products, he had the droids finished with several coats of graphene, giving it their impenetrable body, but Violet sliced through the droid like a hot knife cutting butter. It didn’t make sense, but he would have to analyze the videos and the remains of the dud later. One of the many drawbacks of having to work with another human being again was making sure that their physical needs were met. 

Backing away from the computer, he set forth to free the trapped super as his watch began to ring. Checking to see who was trying to contact him the name Sardonic flashed in white text over a black screen. Giving a heavy sigh he tapped the screen once and pressed on.

“Go for Pine,” Buddy muttered as the doors to his digital lab opened and he walked out onto the production line, zigzagging on the floor as he made his way for test chamber 3. 

“Do you mind telling me why the gamma-ray gun I bought from you is missing the energy accumulator?” roared the voice on the other line. Sardonic was a relatively new villain on the scene and had yet to learn how things worked with him.

“I’d be more than happy to send that part out to you as soon as you complete the payment,” Pine replied in an upbeat customer service voice, making his client growl in frustration.

“I told you, I’m good for it! This baby was supposed to get me the other half and then some! This is the heist of the century we are talking about here," the low-tier miscreant droned. "I'll double the payment but I need that accumulator."

"Haha, yeah, no deal," Pine replied as he stopped at one of the production lines to observe the assembly of a jetpack. 

"Why the hell not?! I'm trying to offer you more money and you're just going to turn it down?" Sardonic's voice was going shrill. 

"Because it's a bad investment, Don. Let me break it down for you- this extra money you are implying, it's a hypothetical scenario. There is no guarantee that you are going to succeed in this little venture of yours," Buddy said as he walked away from the jetpack line and over to a droid that was temporarily idle. "Out of your last five jobs, how many did you walk away with an actual victory. Not just getting away but getting away with something of value?" 

"... One?"

"That's right. Once! You currently have a success rate of 20 percent and those aren't numbers I can just bank on," Pine shot back as he checked the droid for whatever maintenance it required. “I am running a business, Don. Not a charity.”

“It's Sardonic! And look, if you could just spare the part for a few days, I swear you won’t regret it! Otherwise, I just bought the world’s most expensive paper weight!” Sardonic called out.

“Well I hope you enjoy your paperweight, just let me know when you want to do business and not gamble with my money,” and with a click on his watch, Buddy ended the call and made his way up the stairs and summoned the doors for chamber 3 to open up.

Violet sat in the opposite corner of the room from him, her knees pulled up to her chest as she stared him down like a shelter animal. 

“Are you coming?” he asked impatiently.

“Are you going to murder my family if I don’t?” Violet muttered back, wearing his patience even further.

“I don’t have time for this, so you are going to get two options here. You can either sit in here with only a pot to piss in and an MRE to eat, OR you can come with me and get something that your taste buds won’t reject, and enjoy your room privileges.”

“I’m sorry,” Violet started as she rose to her feet and approached him. “But did you say room ‘privileges’? There is nothing about this scenario that gives off a sense of entitlement! You had me drugged, kidnapped, and are now forcing me to fight for my life so you can double dip on the weapons market- there is nothing privileged about this,” Violet growled as she closed the gap between them but still kept her distance. 

Buddy swiftly entered the locker room, leaving only a few feet between them now, though Violet shrank back. No, shrink wasn’t the right word, she took a defensive stance that could allow her to strike if need be. 

“Given those facts you were so kind to layout for the both of us, what makes you think that I wouldn’t make your time here worse? Hmm? Would you prefer me to keep you like some circus animal? Because I could modify a nice little cage for you down here if you would like,” Pine inquired, eyeing the woman who began to let her guard down. 

“What’s stopping you from doing it anyway?” Violet muttered and the man shrugged.

“It’s not out of kindness if that’s what you are thinking,” Pine said as he folded his arms over his chest. “Providing an enriching environment is important for my work because keeping you ‘free-range’, provides a healthier state of mind for you and the best results for me. I won’t lose any sleep if you refuse to take part in this symbiotic arrangement though.”

“You are a parasite,” Violet told him and he just smirked in response. 

“Yes, and this parasite could kill you, a decent chunk of your family, and again, not lose any sleep over it,” he replied as he turned his back to her and stopped to look back at her once he was outside of the room again. “So, what is it going to be, Parr?” 

Violet stared at him in silence, but only a few seconds passed before she was trudging out of the room, her shoulder checking him on the way out. He wanted to correct the behavior, but he let the transgression slide. She provided him with plenty of useful data for the day, why not give her the minor benefit of acting out her emotions. The pair walked back into the elevator and his watch began to ring again. Both their eyes went to the device to see the name Sardonic display. He forced the call to go to voicemail when a snort broke out from Violet. It wasn’t a sound he was expecting out of the super, and the sour expression she wore was now replaced with one of mirth.

“Sardonic? You’re friends with Sardonic?” Violet asked with a laugh, the sudden movement of the elevator not throwing her off this time. “I know that you are the worst, but I’d hardly call him a villain because of how bad he is at it. He couldn’t steal candy from a baby!”

“I don’t have ‘friends’,” Buddy warned as the elevator came to a stop. “And if I did I would assure you that he would not be on that list,” Buddy continued as he made his way into the kitchen with Violet still on his tail. “I’ll have something prepared for you shortly, so how about you get lost for a bit.”

“Sick of me already?” Violet asked as she rounded the island in the kitchen. “Or do you just trust me enough to not run away from this hostage scenario?” Buddy gave a single mock laugh at the questions. He was growing tired of the attitude but he didn’t want to give her the benefit of knowing that. 

“I don’t have to trust you,” Pine said bluntly as he faced her again, his back pressed to the counter, a hand now pointing to her hands. “I have faith in my tech and that lovely little number on your wrist will keep you from going where you don’t belong. Feel free to try to prove me wrong while you explore your new home for the foreseeable future… or stick by my side. I’m not going to argue if you’d rather spend what freetime you have on moi,” he said batting his lashes at her. That set her off on her way and gave him the peace of solitude once more. 


	6. Voyeurism

Violet’s eyes opened to take in the sight of the ceiling with cracked paint. Sitting up she looked to the nightstand beside her bed. The time was 6:50 and it was Monday. The third morning since the merger party. Syndrome would be heading into Municiberg today. Given that he could afford to make the morning commute, even if by aircraft, told Violet she was at least within the tri-county region but she was willing to bet that Syndrome had settled northeast of wine country judging by the vast forests that laid beyond the mansion. 

Throwing the covers off of her, Violet stared at the scrapes and bruises that covered her legs. Saturday she had faced off the mechanical menageries, yesterday it was what she would call an omnidroid, but Syndrome called it a POD, a Personal Ordinance Defender. It was smaller, shaped more like an egg and meant to protect high state officials by any means necessary. She had failed to destroy the robot but she did manage to make it utterly useless in fighting terms and that seemed to be good enough for the man. 

Moving off the bed Violet threw on a tracksuit, this one blue and white but still with the same white and gold logo over the heart. Placing a pair of tennis shoes Violet slowly made her way down to the kitchen, not surprised to see Syndrome already waiting for her. He was dressed to the nines in a dark teal suit, black shirt, black tie, and a cup of coffee in hand, black as well.

“Good morning, Parr. Did you sleep well?” 

Electing to ignore the question, Violet moved to the contraption that dispensed beverages and entered the code for coffee, her eyes shifting to the digital clock the was over the oven, reading off 7:01. She’d have to try to mentally note what time he’d return to get a better gauge of how far out they were from the city. 

“Today you are to go into chamber 12,” Syndrome ordered as he set his mug into the sink. Violet stared at him in confusion, before she could protest he was already throwing up a hand to stop her. “There won’t be anything trying to kill you in there, so I’m not worried about losing my best employee.” 

“By definition, employee implies that I should be getting a wage,” Violet said with a raspy and not fully awake voice. Picking up the mug of coffee, Violet took a sip of the bitter drink and glanced back to the villain. She had hoped to be able to investigate more of her prison. So far it seemed she had the ability to enter every space, save for the production line floor and an office across from the living room. Violet assumed there to be communication devices within that room. “So. When’s payday?”

“You’re right, I misspoke there,” Syndrome chuckled as he shoved his hands into his pockets and approached her. “Not sure what label I should slap on you, indentured servant doesn’t quite fit either, nor does prisoner or slave.”

“I’d beg to disagree,” Violet muttered into her coffee, making Syndrome smirk.

“Then beg,” he replied in passing, the response nearly made Violet choke. “I expect you to be finished with that task before I return tonight and don’t try anything you might regret, is that clear, Parr?”

“Crystal,” Violet muttered back, wondering how confident he could be with the security systems in place for him to leave her alone while he played his role at DevTech. The two exchanged final looks at each other before Syndrome exited and left the mansion from the front door. Violet waited until she heard the hum of the aircraft take off.

She set the cup down on the counter and motioned for the glass sliding door at the end of the dining hall. She hesitated on touching the handle at all but she had to take the risk. Unharmed upon contact, Violet tore the door open and was greeted with a fresh breeze. Without thinking now she ran. Full sprint out the door and for the treeline. She was going to make it. It didn’t matter where she made it to, as long as she could get to a phone line she could warn her family, tell Dicker and give Syndrome a taste of his own medicine. 

Fifty feet from the forest, Violet could taste freedom when she collided with an invisible electric field, shooting her back nearly a yard. She wanted to yowl in frustration but kept her mouth clamped shut seeing Syndrome hanging above her in his hovercraft. She couldn’t make out his face, but she imagined the smug expression he had on now and it only made her want to punch him more. 

“I warned you,” he called from above as Violet got to her feet. She checked to see if her bracelet was still functional after a shock like that and the blue light continued to beam at her in mocking. “But now at least you know how much space you have to roam outside.”

“You’re an asshole, you know that?” Violet shouted back. She was sure she would pay some price later this evening but she had to vent her rage somehow. “You were waiting for me to do that, weren’t you?!”

“You are correct, Parr! And I am so glad I got to see it for myself,” he answered back as he guided his ship to fly higher up. “Remember, I want those results before I return tonight. You know where you can go and where you can’t go, but don’t think for a moment that I won’t have an eye on you!” 

And then he was gone. 

Violet kicked at the grass beneath her feet before making her way back inside of the mansion, cursing Syndrome and every piece of tech she could think of along the way. 

\--

Buddy Pine couldn’t help but grin as he landed on the top of the DevTech tower, still picturing Violet’s run-in with his security system. She wasn't going to stand a chance at escaping, but he had to give her points for trying. 

Heading inside of the building, Buddy was feeling as giddy as a kid on their first day of school. The thrill of being able to witness how clueless people could be did get old rather quickly, but for whatever reason it was always fascinating to watch people fail to recognize his plots. He couldn't fault the public too much though. He was a genius after all. 

Strolling down the steps, Buddy rounded the corner to find Winston but slowed his pace seeing that his business partner was in conversation with two police officers. All three of them turned their attention to him now and he cleared his throat. 

"Good morning officers, Winston. Is there a problem?" Buddy asked. Winston blinked at the question and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Oh, well, there is a bit of a situation, unfortunately," Winston said walking away from the men in blue. "Nothing too serious though-"

"With all due respect, Mr. Deavor, we take drinking and driving in this city very seriously," one of the officers stated boldly making Winston whip back around to address the cops again as Buddy took a silent sight of relief. For a moment he thought that someone had gotten a headstart on the missing person’s case.

"And I do take this situation very seriously! I do not condone that kind of reckless endangerment whatsoever and as I've said I am willing to assist however I can," Winston said. The officers both looked to one another in confirmation before nodding to Winston before exiting the room. Winston shook his head as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and padded his forehead with it. 

"It would seem that one of my, or rather one of our employees, had a little too much sauce this weekend and crashed into a storefront," Winston said and shook his head. "Thankfully no one was hurt but it is such a shame to have to be associated with a situation like this."

"Well, accidents do happen," Pine replied as he placed a hand on Winston's shoulder. "Is there anything I can do to help?" 

"I appreciate the offer but it's out of our hands anyway," Winston said as he waved his hand and stepped away from his new partner. "I'm just relieved that no one was hurt. Though I think from here on out I will have to insist that everyone takes a cab home or has a designated driver if they are going to drink at an event I host. I do feel somewhat responsible for this." 

"I know I just got here, but who was behind the wheel when this happened?" Pine asked, needing to know if the pimple brained intern he hired had been stupid enough to piss his small fortune away already. "Are we going to terminate their employment here?"

"Julia Summers, she's a part of the marketing team, and yes, I do believe that may be the right course, but first we should let the police get through their investigation," Winston said as he began to mask his emotions again. "But enough of this, I'm sure you must want to find Violet and get on your way with exploring this great city! So let's go see if we can find her," the CEO stated as he motioned his associate for the elevator.

\--

Violet sat in containment chamber 12 observing the forcefield that she was supposed to take down. Unlike the fence that had locked within Syndrome's estate lines, this shield was visible, a thin veil of blue film made from electric energy looked to be surrounding a test dummy. She believed it resembled her own force fields and if that was the case she could easily take it down, but first, she had to try to take care of something else. 

The device on her wrist.

Summoning her powers, Violet attempted bursts of energy to force the thin cuff off or to at least attempt to expand it to the point she could slide the thing off of her hand, but it was no use. It seemed to be made of the same material that his robots were made of. If so, she had a plan to remove it but unfortunately, that would have to wait another day. 

Violet focused back on the force field she was ordered to destroy and summoned her own forcefield over the orb and began to repeatedly hit the shield. The blunt force approach took a few tries but it was a success. Apply enough force to nearly any singular point and something will have to give. 

Back up on the ground level, Violet stepped into the kitchen to check the time. It was barely afternoon and she would have at least another few hours to herself before Syndrome would return. Grabbing herself a glass of water, Violet walked back outside and circled the house, now thoroughly inspecting the electric fence for any weak points in its design. Sloshing the water at the shield, Violet watched the fence react, the electric charges running in every direction but Violet could see that the shield did not encase the property like a dome but instead only to about 15 feet in the air.

If she could use her powers it would be an easy climb, just a simple summoning of steps over the wall and she would be free. Of course, if she could use her powers there were other more creative ways she could get out too. Violet circled around the mansion, searching for any weaknesses she could exploit but nothing looked to be out of the ordinary, and upon further inspection everything was ordinary. No secret cubby hiding the power grid or an off switch disguised as a rock here. Violet had nothing but time currently, but the sooner she found an opening the better. 

Back inside the kitchen again Violet paused looking at the table to see the remote. This time of day Jack-Jack would be in school and her parents would either be home or out performing normalcy. She wanted to see them, to make sure they were all still okay, but she knew that they would be okay as long as she did as Syndrome asked. Violet shifted for the entryway but stopped herself.

Did she know that? Syndrome was more than capable of lying to everyone else. Why not manipulate her more than need be? Sitting down at the table, Violet placed the empty glass down and reached for the remote. Hitting the power button the screen rolled out of its hiding place, revealing the empty kitchen of her family’s home and she was relieved that the building was still intact. Flipping through the channels she saw that Syndrome wasn’t kidding about having eyes on them for years. The living room, garage, outside, even the bathrooms had cameras inserted in them. She landed on her bedroom and observed the room with a critical eye. It was just how she left it, with the exception of the curtains which were open to let the world in. 

She was about to turn the channel when her eye landed on a framed picture of Tony sitting on the nightstand. His senior portrait. She had wondered where she had packed the photo but clearly it never left her room. Most likely it was a last-second decision on her part to leave it behind. 

To try to leave him behind. 

Feeling her emotions stir again, Violet flipped the channel into her parent’s room, Jack-Jack’s room, Dash’s which had him and a girl inside, her dad’s den, the driveway- wait a second-. 

Does Dash have a girlfriend?!

Flipping the channels back to Dash’s room Violet’s eyes were locked onto the screen that had her younger brother kissing a girl she didn’t recognize. At 21 Dash was still living at home, but Dash could be in nearly any major city on the east coast in a matter of hours. It didn’t make much sense for him to pay rent when the NSA was constantly sending him out around the country to not only stop bad guys but also serve as a recruiter. If they couldn’t charm potential supers out of hiding he could certainly catch them. The NSA had trouble luring the younger generations of supers to enlist in their ranks. They had yet to earn the trust back of her parents' generation too. 

Coming back into the present, Violet watched as Dash removed his shirt. Screaming she pressed to scroll several channels away, wishing she had the memory wiper the NSA used on civilians. The last thing she wanted to see was her brother doing anything remotely intimate with another person, followed by her parents. Her sense of relief of escaping the sight was short-lived however. If Syndrome had access to their home lives this entire time, including what went on in their bedrooms, then there was a very real possibility that Syndrome had seen her with Tony.

\--

Buddy walked through the front door a quarter past six. The day had dragged on given that in lieu of Violet being absent from her duties at DevTech Winston took up the torch to be his tour guide for the day but at least it gave him the rapport he might need down the line. In addition, he didn’t have to mingle with any of the other staff members at the company. 

Removing his jacket, Pine held it out for one of his home droids to take off his hands and he headed for the kitchen, ready to gloat about Violet’s absence going widely unnoticed or at least not holding any concern but upon stepping into the kitchen he narrowly dodged a ceramic mug that crashed against the wall. Looking in the direction it was thrown from Buddy gasped as another was ready to collide with his face. With no time to dodge it, he froze the mug in mid-flight and glared at Violet who had stockpiled every mug he owned. A collection of forty identical white cups that he bought in bulk for convenience sake, and here she was using them as weapons. 

“What the hell Parr?!” Buddy shouted as he plucked the mug from his zero point ray and set the mug behind him as Violet launched another at him. Rather than saving the mug, Pine aimed for the root of the problem and captured Violet in his ray and let the mug fly past his head, nearly grazing his cheek. “I slave over my day job and come home to you ready to take me out with the kitchen wares, I certainly hope this isn’t what you did all day,” He muttered as he walked closer to the woman he had kidnapped. 

Violet, defenseless, waited for him to send her around the room like a wrecking ball but instead he locked the settings and took off his watch, setting the device aside and began to store the mugs away back into the filtration system.

“First, before we go into whatever this ingenious idea was about, let me tell you about my day,” Buddy started again, his tone high and stressed. “It was great. I nearly had a heart attack when I first got in, the cops were talking to Winston and I thought for sure someone had reported you missing earlier than expected but that wasn’t the case. Turns out someone had a little too much to drink at the party and sent their car into a building, nobody got hurt but I don’t know if this will speed up or hold up any investigations done for you in the coming days. We’ll just have to wait and see,” Buddy stated as he finished putting the cups away and summoned a mini sweeper droid to clean up the two cups she had broken. He didn’t release her yet however. Instead, he moved to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and an old fashioned glass to pour the drink into. Setting the bottle down with some force Pine threw back the first glass and then poured himself another. 

“Being that you weren’t around to show me the town, Winston was generous enough to do that for you. We went all around the city and you want to know something? Nobody stopped us. We were just two business execs going around the city and not a single person seemed to ponder, ‘Hey, doesn’t that guy look familiar?’,” Buddy said moving back towards the table and took his seat, eyeing the frozen super with disdain as he loosened his tie. “Winston even treated me to his favorite restaurant in Municiberg. Well, it was more of a hole in the wall than an actual dining spot, but the sushi was actually really damn good. I was going to offer to bring some home tomorrow if you didn’t act up again, but no rewards for you!” Pine scolded as he tapped the controls and Violet was released and slumped to the floor. “So. mind telling me what the deal is, or should I start installation on a cage downstairs for you?” he asked before taking a sip.

Getting to her feet, Violet stared down the villain as he raised the glass up higher. “Did you enjoy watching me undress you pervert?” The question made him spit out his 100 dollar whiskey. 

“Excuse me?!” He asked incredulously. “What are you talking about?! The locker room? That’s not for-”

“My bedroom!” Violet shouted as she neared him. Buddy reached for the watch he forgot to return to his wrist but Violet’s hand grabbed the remote instead and turned on the television screen to show the image of her bedroom. “You’ve been spying on us for years, you said it yourself! So I’m asking you, did you enjoy your little peep show?!”

Buddy was stunned at the display the woman was delivering now, he would say he was speechless, but if there was one thing Buddy could do, other than make unbeatable robotic designs, it was talking.

“Wait, wait, wait, hold the phone here… You attacked me, not because of the current situation you are in, but because you think I what- watched you get dressed in the morning?” Buddy asked and laughed shaking his head. “... Or are you referring to having a boyfriend in the room? Or a girlfriend?” He asked raising an eyebrow. 

“Well did you?!” Violet asked.

“No, Parr, I didn’t watch you like some snake in the grass. I’ve had better things to do than enjoy a private and limited release documentary that is super teenage puberty,” Pine gruffed as he reached for a napkin to dab the liquid on the table. She continued to glare at him with suspicion, but her body released some of the tension she had before.

“Okay,” she muttered, tossing the remote back onto the table and motioned to take a seat but paused, a new question formulating in her head. Buddy was sure the question would be focused on the cameras that were pointed at her now but he was woefully mistaken. “What about my parents’ room?” Violet asked, making the man pause, which was all too telling for the super.

“I am going to plead the fifth on that one,” he stated at long last as he rose from the table to refill the portion of whiskey he had lost in the interrogation, avoiding the look of disgust she was delivering now.

“That’s so vile!” Violet accused and Buddy’s shoulders raised in response to the pitch she reached. 

“Look, it was one time,” he muttered without a hint of shame in his voice though his cheeks were flushed. “If you only knew the amount of fan fair that revolved around your mother back in the day,” he said in attempts to recover the situation but Violet wasn’t buying into the conversation. She stormed out of the room in a huff and the man remembered that he wasn’t the one that should be on trial. With drink still in hand and the watch back on his wrist, he walked out after her and watched her climb to the loft above the living room. “Hey, we aren’t finished here! We still have the matter of your punishment!” He shouted and Violet turned her eyes on him again. Gazerbeam’s glance could kill but Violet’s eyes looked although they could do so much worse. 

“I think that the information you shared is punishment enough, don’t you?!” Violet asked as she stood on the steps.

“No, I don’t think a lesson has been learned here!” Buddy shouted back, making Violet scoff and walk back down the steps. 

“So are you going to threaten to obliterate my family because I threw some cups at you?” Violet asked. “Or are you going to make me fight some killer robots for sport because newsflash, you are already doing that!”

Buddy’s eyes diverted to the floor briefly knowing that it was difficult to make her life any more difficult than it already was without completely ruining her morale to continue the work he assigned. 

“You’ve got little friends I could-”

“Hey, guess what, I don’t have friends either,” Violet snapped before spinning around, her black hair whipping his face as she turned away. “You don’t have a monopoly on being a loner.” Friends, or at least those on the civilian side, were a liability it sounded like. 

“You really are incredible, you know that?” Buddy shouted, enraged by the amount of disrespect Violet was displaying but also at the reality that he had limited discipline measures he could take. Slamming his glass down on the mantle above the fireplace he tapped a few controls on his watch, updating the security. “I’ve just made it so you can’t step outside!” He shouted as Violet slammed the door to her room, clearly not caring for the lost privilege.

Muttering under his breath, Pine took the glass up and threw back the whiskey. He could use another but opted to forgo the idea. He still had to take his pills and they did not mix well with alcohol. He left the floor and headed for the digital lab to make sure that Violet completed her task and not just plot to pelt him with cups all day. Once he sat down in his chair, his watch began to display Sardonic’s name again. Knowing he would regret the interaction, he answered the call. 

“Are you wiring me the other half of the payment or are you looking to play more games because I’m really not in the mood,” Buddy growled at the start as he clicked through the footage of the day. Pulling up the footage of chamber 12, he waited for Sardonic to respond. “Hello, earth to Sardonic!”

“I want that energy accumulator and you are going to personally deliver it to me,” stated the enraged man over the phone. Normally he would have laughed or just hung up but the incident with the super left him in a mood to tear someone apart, and it may as well be Sardonic.

“Is that a fact,” Buddy asked amused. “What makes you think I’m going to be giving you anything now? I don’t care if you have the money anymore. From this point on you are officially blacklisted from my services.” He was glad he could at least effectively punish someone at the moment. “Do you know what that means?”

“Pine, I swear if you don’t give me what I’m asking for-”

“It means, DON, that you won’t be able to enjoy my weapons, the lair security measures, or future lair designs from here on out. Even if you were to be making it with the big dogs of crime, you are going to have to opt for worn-out warehouses and overpriced black market weapons for the rest of your life,” Pine said, watching Violet attempting to break the cuff on her wrist earlier that day. 

“I’m warning you!”

“It has been a real displeasure serving you, and I can’t wait to read about how epically you failed in your next robbery attempt. Goodbye and good riddance,” he said before hanging up and moving his contact number into the block call list. Returning his focus onto the super’s material he was surprised to see how effortlessly she stopped the energy field. Looking to the data recorded in the chamber it seemed that her own shields could hammer out over 100,000 pounds per square inch, over double the amount that it would take to break steel. He’d have to figure out a lightweight tool that could distribute at least half that damage if he hoped to continue the arms race he created. 

He rubbed the lids of his eyes, trying to brainstorm a design but all that came to mind was the infuriating super he had on his hands now. He wondered if it would be too much for him to call in to DevTech with a personal emergency tomorrow to figure out how to keep the super under tighter wraps without limiting the ability to care for herself but he didn’t want to miss Winston’s reaction to Ms. Parr’s second unexcused absence. 

He’d have to come up with something tonight. He really lucked out today that she opted for the mugs and didn’t consider the knife draw.


	7. Locked-In

Dressed for the day, Violet made her way down to the kitchen the next morning expecting to find Syndrome waiting for her but instead, there was one of his droids and a note attached to it. Violet instinctively went stiff at the sight of the robot, not even registering the white slip taped onto it's front until she realized it wasn't going to attack her. Feeling comfortable enough to approach the lifeless object, Violet moved closer to inspect the message which was just a bulleted list for her. 

-Chamber 1. Target Practice with dummies.

-Banned access to all tech save for this droid and access to the test chambers. 

-If you require something ask the droid and it will be granted with my digital approval.

- **Stay out of trouble.**

Violet cursed and ran for the front door in hopes of catching Syndrome but when her hand met the door handle she felt a painful burst of electricity rush through her. Looking out the frosted glass window, Violet could see that his hovercraft was gone. 

Slamming her open palms against the door Violet screamed out of frustration before moving into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee, but as the note implied, the house tech accessories were shut off, or at least to her. Moving to the table she picked up the remote and clicked to open up the television but just as with the coffee maker nothing happened. 

“You’ve got to be freaking kidding me!” Violet shouted looking for the nearest security camera before she walked up into its frame to talk directly to Syndrome. She was sure the cretin was watching over her every move now, so she was sure to give him a show from here on out. “Did you seriously ground me?! I don’t know what kind of power trip you are getting from this but this isn’t funny you snaggletoothed bastard!”

She waited to hear a response from him but after 20 minutes of waiting it was clear that the silent treatment may have also been in play. Frustrated and literally with nothing else to do, Violet made her way down to the containment chambers and walking into chamber 1, Violet was surprised to find that it was loaded with 45 test dummies. And that was it. 

No droids to destroy, no protection barriers to break down. No instructions on how to conduct herself. Just the dummies. 

And each one of them, in Violet’s mind, had Syndrome’s stupid face.

\--

“This is so unlike Violet,” Winston whispered with concern in his office. “I’m really sorry James, I’ll have Cliff from HR give you a tour of the building, he may have an opening in his schedule for tomorrow,” Winston said as he walked the undercover villain to the door. Pine gave a shrug at the apology. 

“No worries, Win. I just hope she is alright,” he said trying to match Winston’s worry. “You’ll keep me up to date on the situation though, right? I know she wasn’t my hire but I’d like to think of myself invested in every aspect of the company. After all, our products are only as good as our people,” he stated as he turned back to face his business partner from outside of his office door. 

“Yeah! Of course, of course!” Winston assured. “The kid just might have a bug of some sort and hasn’t been able to get to the phone, but I’ll be sure to let you know what the situation is when it’s cleared up.”

Buddy smiled and gave a wave goodbye before heading into his own assigned office space. He had yet to decorate the space to his tastes but he did have a lava lamp placed on a bookcase. It wasn’t anywhere near the level of power his volcanic island exuded, but it was a nice little conversation piece.

Moving to look out the window, his eyes took in the city below wondering who Winston would call first. Well, who he would call after blowing up Violet’s number at least. Would he call her parents, or check in with his old mentor, Rick Dicker?

Dicker.

That bastard had taken a lot from him. Not nearly as much as Mr. Incredible, but a good amount of wealth was lost to the NSA agent’s directive. And rumor had it that the old man had helped Mirage get a badge as well. A deal of sorts to commute her sentence for the crimes she had committed while she was with him. Thinking of her still boiled his blood, yet he couldn’t fault her at the end of it all. He had gambled with her life, and she had repaid him tenfold.

He hated her for it, but he couldn’t blame her.

Turning to his desk, Buddy began to survey reports that needed his attention. The Municiberg DevTek Technology Center was to begin construction immediately, with high hopes to be open for the Fall semester. It would be the crown jewel on the West Coast for technical education, but it would also start the complete domination of cyber life. Evelyn Deavor feared that sort of future, as any good engineer would. The decline in having to commit human thought into life was in essence the decline of life itself. 

He might not live to see the day when humanity chose to close their eyes to the ways of the world and opt for comforting lies instead, but he was sure his name would be branded on the devices people choose to submit their livelihoods too. 

While thinking on the topic of submission, Buddy’s thoughts drifted to the super brat he had holed up in the lair this very moment. Looking down at his watch he tapped the blinking camera icon to pull up the feed from the most active camera. The hand that wasn’t adorned with the watch was lifted up to his face which wore the subtle expression of horror. 

Violet was really going to town on those manikins, and he imagined that not a single one of them would be reusable. Repairable was still up for debate but he was losing confidence in that possibility as he watched the woman decapitate two of the test dummies with a single disk. The hand that was on his cheek now protectively covering his throat. He swallowed his fear and remembered that he was in control. As long as he kept the SAD in check. Though the super had a really good track record of breaking his toys. Maybe a more internal control method would be needed. Just to be safe.

Turning off the live stream, Buddy focused back on the work in front of him and shook himself off. But how the hell was he supposed to work knowing that he had pissed off one of the strongest supers he knew?

\--

Violet laid on the floor of the living area with textbooks and scientific journals all around her. She considered herself to be a bookworm, able to digest just about any reading material that was set at her feet, but the stuff that Syndrome had on hand was as dense as a dying star, which according to the most readable study in the pile, was about 6.2 miles deep. 

Hearing the door open Violet sat up in attention, her gaze meeting Syndrome’s instantly. Locked in each other’s hold, they waited for each other to make the first move. Syndrome broke the silence by shutting the door behind him and the simple action put Violet into hyperdrive. 

“Where the fuck do you get off?!” Violet shouted as she got to her feet and Syndrome’s eyes widened at the question. 

“Wow, that language is hardly ladylike,” Syndrome scolded as he made his way for the kitchen, already in need of a drink, and with Violet trailing behind him he decided to pour a double. 

“Well it’s a good thing I’m not running for Miss America isn’t it,” Violet asked as she folded her arms. “I’m sure that the judges wouldn’t care for my talent act either. Speaking of which, I hope you have a stockpile of test dummies in one of your other eccentric bachelor pads, because I destroyed all the ones you gave me.”

Syndrome clicked his jaw at the comment. What little he saw from her time in the chamber was concerning to say the least. He had hoped that the four hours and some odd minutes she had spent mutilating dummies would have tuckered her out a bit, but the super was still raring to go. 

“That’s enough for tonight, Parr,” he said as he took his drink and headed towards the elevator to analyze the data she provided. “The manikins have served their purpose and I expect that I should be able to replicate something of yours for my clients because of your brilliant display of violence.” The statement made Violet stop following him, and he grinned knowingly.

“You were using me?!” She shouted from the end of the hall and Syndrome laughed turning to face her again.

“Past tense there, a bit of a poor choice, Parr. I still am using you,” he chided with a smirk as he tapped on the controls to summon the elevator. “As I said when you first arrived, we are going to do great things together,” he said taking a confident sip of his whiskey as the elevator doors opened and he stepped in, not breaking eye contact with her. “I’ve got some rough drafts in my head, but when I move to the marketing phase I’ll include you in the naming process. Sounds like a fair deal, right?” He called, relishing the furious look on Violet’s face as the doors closed.

\--

Winston Deavor shook his leg nervously as he watched Rick Dicker walk around the penthouse foyer, inspecting the place- silently judging the place. 

Judging him. 

There were few people on this earth that Winston Deavor feared. Mrs. Walsh, his sixth-grade math teacher, Jaundice, a real villain back in the day, and then his old supervisor, Rick Dicker. 

"So, let's go over this again," Rick drawled from the far side of the room, making Winston hide his face under his hands.

"I've told you everything I know! Besides, shouldn't we wait for Mr.Incredible and Elastagirl to show? Given that, you know, they are supers? And her parents?!" Winston shouted, throwing his arms to his sides and focused his gaze on the ceiling. "Were there any clues at her place?"

Dicker took a deep breath and approached his former rookie. There were some concerning things about Violet Parr's apartment. There were a few more empty wine bottles than he would have liked, and certainly not enough greens in the fridge, but those things paled in comparison to the handgun that she had stashed in her school bag. He had sent that in for prints but he wanted to know why the hell a super would have a gun.

The elevator doors opened much to the relief of Winston who got to his feet to greet the super parents, both dressed in their matching red suits.

"Guys thanks for coming, now I know that we are all worried about Violet, and we will find her. She might be Invisi-girl, but I have the utmost confidence that she will turn up," Winston said gently as he shook the hands of his closest friends, Rick clearing his throat as he took a seat at the table Winston had brought out. 

"Can we all go over the last time you had contact with Violet? Winston, let's start with you first," Dicker grumbled as he pulled out an old fashioned tape recorder and set it down on the table. 

"Did you seriously have that thing on you the whole time?! I -just- ugh, nevermind! … The last time I could say I saw Violet was last Friday night. It was here in this room, we had our merger signing party with Kronos Incorporated, you know the Swiss company that makes, well, everything that my company needs pretty much. Anyway! She was here at the party," Winston said calmer than before as he clasped his hands together and set them on the table. "She gave me a really good pep talk before Mr. Everett showed and she went to go hang out with the other interns. After the signing, which was behind schedule by 15 minutes, I introduced Mr. Everett to some folks including Violet. It wasn’t until after I escorted Mr.Everett back to his aircraft I realized that she was gone."

“And what time was that?” Rick asked jotting down the company Kronos Incorporated. Something sounded familiar about the company but he couldn’t put a finger on it.

“Oh, it was just a minute before 9 PM. I tried to get Mr.Everett to stay for a nightcap but he seemed pretty adamant about getting home. I think he’s an early riser.”

"Alright. I'm going to need the contact list of everyone who showed up to the party, especially the names of the interns she works with. If anyone was to see something it would be them," Dicker said looking then to the Parr parents. “And what about you two? The last time you saw Violet was when?”

“We saw her two weeks ago for dinner,” Helen started quickly. “But she called us Friday night, before the party. She mentioned she had to get ready for it, she called us from a phone here actually. It was a premature call, she normally checks in on us on Sunday, if we don’t reach her first.”

“And what did you talk about, other than the party?” Dicker questioned, making a note to collect a list of calls made out on Friday from the phone records. 

“We…, well, I asked her when she was going to quit this job and come back to work as a super,” Bob confessed. “She didn’t appreciate that too much,” Bob muttered as he folded his hands.

“I can’t imagine she did…” Rick huffed back and Winston was on high alert. 

“Okay, clearly I’m missing something here- Why would you want Violet to quit this gig? I’m paying her very competitively and I honestly believe there is room for her to grow, if she wants it. But also, why doesn’t she want to work as a super?!”

“It’s not relevant to the case,” Rick said, giving Winston a look of warning before focusing back on Mr. Incredible. “Anything else?”

The Parr’s shook their heads and Dicker felt no closer to solving the case than he did two hours ago, but he at least had a list of names and phone numbers to scour through in the meantime. Standing up, Rick turned off the recording device and rubbed the creases in his forehead. 

“Violet... is a strong kid. She’s been through some tough things but has managed to become a strong and bright young lady,” Rick said before packing up his gear into his briefcase. “I can’t say for certain, but I suspect that Violet did not return to her apartment Friday night. We are waiting to hear back from some of her neighbors but a boy was hanging out by her place when we arrived. Said something about wanting to apologize for a mishap.”

“Does this boy have a name?” Bob asked sitting up a little straighter, his question met with a tired stare from Rick.

“His name is suspect number one for now, but he does have an alibi. He’s going to be interviewed by the police tomorrow concerning this ‘mishap’, and if it’s a lead I’ll let you know.” Rick said as he pulled the briefcase from the table. “If any of you hear from her, I want to know immediately. Is that understood?” The trio of adults nodded and Rick released a pent up sigh. “Good. Winston, I expect those names and a call log from Friday to be on my desk tomorrow morning.” Dicker said, already walking away as Winston jumped to his feet.

“You got it Rick!” the executive shouted, mostly from nervousness. Without another word Dicker made his way into the elevator and left, leaving the Parr’s and Winston alone. “Is it too bold of me to ask if I can make you two a drink?”

“None for me,” Bob muttered as Helen raised a hand.

“A manhattan for me,” Helen responded and Winston walked to the cocktail bar to prepare two manhattans. Coming back he handed Helen her drink and kept his in hand and waited until she had the first sip before he asked the question.

“I know I shouldn’t be asking this- not because of what Dicker said but out of respect for Violet, but I would like to know. Why doesn’t Vi want to do hero work anymore?” 

Helen set her glass down before looking at Bob. His eyes were solemn and he motioned to shake his head but Helen turned her gaze back to Winston, a look of sadness in her eyes. 

“She lost someone on the job,” Helen said softly and Bob was shaking his head in disagreement.

“Her boyfriend. Violet lost her boyfriend, and she hasn’t been the same since.”

  
  
  



	8. Munchausen

  
  


Buddy Pine, or rather James Everett, was back in his office before the sun even hinted at casting its rays over the shining city. Anything to escape having to deal with his 'guest'. He would have thought that revoking Violet’s privileges would have corrected her behavior, but if anything she had become more aggressive. Next step would be to convert one of the locker rooms into a padded cell and just confine her to a singular test chamber until he saw fit otherwise, but that was to be a last resort. 

Taking a sip from his travel mug, Pine surveyed the documents before him concerning projects that were coming due, in the works, and what was being brainstormed. A side project that Winston seemed to have a lot of notes on was a device that would be strictly marketed to supers and the NSA first. A nifty radio system that could fit into the head of a super-suit and allow them to call anyone in the NSA or fellow supers in their contact database with voice activation. It was ambitious but would do terrible things for his personal life. He made a red circle around it to make sure he would do everything humanly possible to sabotage or at least delay the project. 

A knock on the door came and before he could even grant permission to enter Winston was already halfway into the room. Buddy was already regretting his decision to come in early given how peppy his co-CEO was, but it was either deal with Mr.Sunshine or the tornado that was Violet ‘Invisi-girl’ Parr.

"I need to talk to you," Winston started and Buddy held back a sigh.

"Good morning to you too, Winston," he said as he leaned back into his chair as Mr. Deavor took the seat across from him. 

"Good morning, yes. Sorry. Hey, so remember how you said you wanted to be kept in the loop about Violet?" Winston started again. Buddy nodded as he took up the mug again waiting for Winston to finish his thoughts. "Well, it's not looking good. I can't give you all the details, but authorities are already on the case and there is a list of suspects… including everyone who attended the party." 

Buddy tensed at the comment. He had not considered that the investigation would have advanced so quickly, nor that his work persona would end up on any lists.

"Well, almost everyone. You and Mrs. Summers are cleared," Winston said, rubbing the back of his neck, missing the look of relief his partner was expressing. "I'm really sorry that your first week with us is looking like a disaster, I swear this has to be the week from hell! Well, it wasn't nearly as disastrous as the time my sister hijacked a bunch of supers in an attempt to make them illegal forever, but it's getting pretty darn close!" 

Pine stared blankly at the distressed man across from him, unsure how to proceed with the conversation but his better instinct was telling him to not mention Evelyn. 

"So, about Violet. Do the authorities have any leads?" He asked as he crossed a leg over the other from behind his desk. 

"There might be a boy involved in her personal life," Winston answered but shook his head and jumped to his feet. "Wait, no, I've already said too much! I just wanted to be courteous and let you know that we might have some law enforcement folk sniffing around but hopefully this is just a really bad hangover case or a last-minute road trip with some friends that we can all laugh about in the coming weeks," Winston said with genuine optimism. 

"Well if there is anything I can do, I would be more than happy to help," Buddy lied, hiding his giddiness that Violet might have someone other than her family to dangle in front of her face. A potential lover at that.

"Well, there is one thing," Winston pondered. "I know you two have only just met briefly, but you two seemed to really hit it off… Did Violet say anything to you? Anything that may have stuck out?” 

Buddy shook his head and picked up a file on his desk, not even bothering to look up from his work. 

"Violet seemed perfectly ordinary to me."

\--

Stepping into the kitchen, Violet noted that it was the second morning in a row that Syndrome managed to slip out before she woke. The evidence of that fact was taped onto the robot she dubbed as The Nanny. Approaching the droid, Violet ripped the paper off of its cold exterior and read the note he left behind for her today. 

Challenges for the Day:

Chamber 5: Battle Grade POD

**STAY OUT OF TROUBLE**

Violet scoffed before crumpling the paper and tossed it across the room, knowing fully well that one of Syndrome’s little droids would dispose of it later. She couldn’t even make a mess in this place, what trouble was there left for her to make? Ordering a cup of coffee and scrambled eggs through The Nanny, Violet knew she should have felt some sense of victory for Syndrome not being present to mock her in the morning but the relief was outweighed by the fact that she was now under extreme house arrest. 

Violet considered going back to bed and forgoing the test out of spite, however, Violet couldn’t just stop- could she? While she hated to admit it, Syndrome was playing softball for the time being. If she continued to push him he might decide to kill her, her family, and even though she didn’t have friends there were still people she cared about. Winston, Lucius, former classmates- hell, Syndrome could dangle a complete stranger or even someone who had wronged her and she would be guilted into submission. 

But she couldn’t let him win either. Destroying his droids was one thing, but the reality that he was analyzing her? Going to make weapons based on her powers? It struck her differently. She didn’t want to be responsible for any more innocent deaths. But if she didn’t cooperate with his schemes her family would pay the price. She’d have to find another way to spoil his victory but escape wasn’t possible, and there was only so much damage she could do to his property now. 

The Nanny rolled up to the table and set out her breakfast tray. Violet stabbed at the eggs on her plate and then it hit her. It was a gamble. One that regardless of the outcome there would be hell to go through and hell to pay, Violet gave a sigh of resignation before she headed down to the testing sites.

\--

A knock on James Everett’s door came. Lifting his head, Pine was greeted by a man with blonde hair and horn-rimmed glasses. Clifford, the head of Personnel, had come to give a tour around DevTech. 

“Should we start from the bottom up or top-down?” Cliff asked as Buddy abandoned his desk. “If we start on the bottom we could grab a cup of coffee from the lobby, or if we start up top we should be able to finish in time for happy hour. Can you guess which my favorite option is?” 

Buddy faked a smile, keeping pace with Cliff as they made their way to the elevator. His eyes distracted by a flashing red light flickering in the window’s reflection and then he realized it was an alert on his watch. The first thought in his mind was ‘what did she do now?

Placing a firm hand onto Cliff’s shoulder Buddy took a step back as the HR manager turned in his direction. 

“I think I hear my phone ringing and I’m actually expecting an important phone call, give me two minutes and I'll meet you at the elevator,” Buddy said quickly before he retreated back to his office, clenching his jaw tightly. Did he need to attach a droid to the super to keep her in check, or would he have to resort to more unsavory methods?

Once in the safety of his office, Buddy opened the alert, half expecting Violet destroying the gatekeeping bot he had frankensteined together but instead he bore witness to a live video feed of Violet Parr in chamber 5 taking on high damage from the Battle POD. Damage that she could easily prevent, but wasn’t. Damage that could kill her if she didn’t put up a fight.

“No!” He growled and summoned access to the chamber’s intercom system through his device. Had he believed her to be suicidal he would have stuck her on taking down defense systems for the rest of the week, the POD was meant to be an outlet as well as an additional means of punishment. Yet the super found it another way to be a problem.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?!” Pine asked, outrage coming over him as he heard a strangled laugh emit through the speakers on his watch. 

“I’m doing my own test,” Violet answered back as she allowed the POD to ensnare her in its claws. “Which matters more to you; witnessing your little revenge plot play out bit by bit, or expanding your criminal empire?” Violet shouted, forcing Buddy to lower the volume on the device. 

“You’ll die if you keep it up,” he warned, watching as Violet struggled to get to her feet again. 

“Because I had high hopes of getting out alive anyway,” she snapped back before the droid delivered a blow to her stomach that forced her to double over. 

“Your family is as good as dead,” he hissed, nervous that someone might be within earshot. Violet laughed again, and while the footage was in shades of gray, Pine knew there was blood coming from the mouth of the super. 

“I don’t think so, at least not right away,” Violet mumbled as she flopped over. Buddy stared at the screen in disbelief. What the hell was it going to take to make her see that he was not one to piss off? She kept talking instead of taking care of the droid.

“That’s not fun for you. You crave more than that,” Violet continued. You’ve spent your childhood admiring him, your adolescence hating him, and early adulthood wanting to become him… You don’t want to simply murder my dad, you want to beat him. To utterly destroy him in every possible way. Blowing him up, poisoning, any form of assassination doesn’t achieve what you want. Not really,” Violet muttered as her eyes managed to find the camera that was currently displaying her image to him. The POD's mechanical claw grasped Violet by the throat. The phrase 'Violet, you're turning violet' echoed in his head, but still the woman resisted any motion to save her own life. What could be her last breaths were spent on him. “I believe you will try to kill him, and eventually you may even succeed, but you’ll want him to know it was you. You are so much of a narcissist that you need to be there when he takes his last breath. I don’t think of myself so highly, but I think you’d want to be around for mine too.”

Buddy Pine stared at the female super with more loathing than he had ever felt for another human being, including her father and Mirage. He was furious because of the simple fact that she was right. He cursed out loud as he ordered the POD cease and desist. He hesitated on also summoning the medical droid to get to her but he quite literally could not afford to lose her. 

“If you are a religious person, I suggest you start praying,” he stated plainly before cutting off the transmission and rushed out of his office and towards the elevator. Visibly upset, Buddy managed to make Clifford stand aside without asking.

“Is everything alright, sir?” 

“Oh, just peachy keen,” Pine lied as he hit the up button on the elevator. “Something has come up at home. Gas leak. Authorities need me on site right away.”

“Oh, I am very sorry to hear that Mr. Everett, is there anyone in the house that’s in danger?” Cliff asked.

“Only a pet, and pardon my French, but I would prefer to not put the bitch down just yet,” Pine replied as he stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the roof. “Please inform Mr. Deavor when you can and that I’ll be in contact once the situation is resolved.”

“Of course, feel free to call my office when you want to reschedule the tour," the man urged as the doors closed. 

Alone again, Pine looked to his watch to analyze the status of Violet’s condition. The medical droid had yet to arrive on the scene but the nifty bracelet that resided on her wrist told him that her blood pressure was low and only dropping more with each minute. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do when he got to her, but he was confident that he was going to make her existence more miserable than ever.

\--

Violet seethed in pain as she curled up into the fetal position on the astroturf. While she was in a great deal of pain, and likely to see a world hurt in the near future, she couldn’t help but smile to herself. She might not be getting a job with her criminal psychology degree, but it did come in handy. 

She had played Syndrome like a fiddle but if she had gotten it wrong, if she had read him wrong, it wouldn’t have just been her own life she had thrown away. She knew from this point forward she couldn’t push him again, he was unstable as it was, but there might still be room to negotiate on her end. Violet didn’t dare dream of the possibility of getting out of Syndrome’s hold at this point, but she might be able to at least buy her brother’s off the table. As well as terms on her trademark powers.

“The things I do for love,” the heroine mumbled as she closed her eyes. She just hoped that her punk baby brothers didn’t throw away her sacrifices. 

\--

Violet didn’t open her eyes to see the medical droid enter the room, nor did she wake when Buddy arrived an hour later which might have been the best-case scenario for the woman.

He was normally very fond of kicking rivals when they were down, but Violet Parr was not currently categorized as an enemy. She barely registered as a person in his eyes thanks to the SAD. She was an asset, a tool to advance his agenda. 

A real monkey wrench was what she was turning out to be. 

Crouching beside the woman he didn't bother observing her wounds. The droid reported that nothing life threatening had been done, but there was the chance of a nasty concussion along with some other injuries that would keep her out of the testing chambers for the foreseeable future. He picked her up and held her bridal style, her head slumping against his chest. His heart was threatening to burst from his boiling blood. It was like she didn't know who she was dealing with. 

Yeah, the NSA and every other government agency buried as much as they could on him. Uncle Sam would never survive the shame of having made multiple million-dollar deals with him, and the NSA's failure to protect those who depended on them most? He didn't have to lift a finger to erase his old life- the government did it with him asking or paying for it- but surely her father would have explained who the notorious Syndrome really was at some point. Right? The super in his arms clearly wasn’t afraid of him, and she had just practically laughed in the face of death. Who the hell does that?

‘You know, Pine. People who’ve survived death.’ He thought to himself.

Once up top, Buddy moved up to the second floor and for the bedroom she occupied. A cage in sanctum was becoming far more appealing to him now but for the time being she would have to rest in her quarters. 

He laid her down, gently. He wasn't worried about waking her, it just seemed instinctual to handle the sleeping woman with care. It was a funny thing to him, seeing the super in this state. Vulnerable. Which, given the circumstances he had built, she always was, but now more than usual. Invisi-girl was not the second-string super he had taken her for. She was an absolute force of nature. Potentially the most effective weapon and form of defense he had ever witnessed and here it was, packaged into the form of a frail, young woman. He didn’t consider the female gender to be the ‘lesser’ sex. On the contrary, he held a great deal of respect for women because they were so effective in the field. Nobody ever suspected what is perceived as an object of sex to be capable of criminal intent. Men, in particular, could be stupid like that, letting their guard down to a pretty face and a nice pair of legs. It’s what made Mirage so damn good at bringing in supers. 

Buddy scolded himself. The woman had been on his mind more often than usual, but of course there was a connection between the Parr’s and Mirage. 

As he pulled up her blankets, he checked her vitals again. Her outlook had improved. At least in terms of her medical state currently. Her overall outlook on life was bad and heading for worse at the rate she was actively pissing him off. 

"Tony," she whispered, catching the man off guard. 

Buddy turned his attention to Violet’s face and expected her to be on the verge of consciousness, but she was still asleep, and she looked to be in more pain than ever. A nightmare, he assumed, and smirked.

Was this ‘Tony’ fellow the boy Winston carelessly brought up earlier? A weak link in her chain that he could break to prove he was no longer playing games. He smiled wickedly as he left the room. Whenever it was when she woke, that little nightmare of hers would become a reality.


	9. Restless Leg

  
  


_ Warm sun.  _

_ Seagulls squalling.  _

_ Children laughing.  _

_ Tony’s smile. _

_ And then people are screaming- _

_ Violet turns her head in the direction of the terror and sees a stampede of people heading to the seaside of the pier, but she can’t see what is driving folks back. _

_ "Take cover, I got this," Violet tells Tony as she is already running towards the danger. Putting on her mask she dives into a game booth to change. A benefit to her powers was that any space could become a dressing room if no one could see you.  _

_ She had received a new suit from Edna, similar design to the family outfit, only she was now sporting a dark shade of violet as the primary color, and the lower case ‘i’ that had stood out on her parent’s costumes was barely visible, the minor stitching of black thread outlined the letter but one would not be able to notice the detail until it was too late.  _

_ Violet remained invisible as she exited the game booth, now able to see who was causing the chaos. The Triplets Mayhem. A trio of brothers who had defected from the Rolland Crime family she had busted last month. What they were doing targeting a pier was beyond her, there were easier targets to hit that had more money, and better exit strategies-  _

_ Unless if they weren’t here for money, but a person. Ransoms were much more their speed.  _

_ Violet only had eyes on two of the brothers. She panicked and searched for the third up ahead but gunfire from the rear told her what she needed to know. She was torn between taking care of the two at the beginning of the docks or running back where she came when Dash ran on the scene, taking that battle from her. Making herself known to her brother, the Parr siblings exchanged nods and Violet ran back the way she came as Dash ran laps around the thugs behind her.  _

_ A black chopper flew overhead, the Triplets planned escape route no doubt. Violet searched for any person of interest when a distressed scream from a girl broke out. It was the mayor’s daughter! And she was in the grasp of the largest of the three gangsters. Without hesitating she threw a shield towards the man, knocking his jaw and effectively releasing Mayor Wise’s daughter who was now retreating back into the crowd.  _

_ Coming back to his senses, the criminal found the visible Violet and raised his firearm at her and- _

\--

Violet gasped as she sat up, wakened from the recurring nightmare. She didn’t dream of it all the time, but something about being taken hostage against your will brought out the bad memories. Violet breathed deeply and felt her sore rib cage when something in the corner of the room caught her eye.

It was Syndrome, sitting in the quilted chair beside the bed. His hands were clasped and raised, covering his mouth. The ice blue orbs seemed to be burning a hole into her skull as they both waited for the other to break the silence. 

Violet shifted her gaze to the clock on the nightstand to see what time it was and the clock read back 18:40. She hadn’t expected to be out for so long, though she hadn’t planned on passing out at all. She was really hoping to see Syndrome’s face in the test chamber. Turning her head back to Syndrome, her eyes drifted to the floor, watching his leg shake in a rather uncontrollable manner.

“Shake that leg any faster and you might be able to race against my brother,” Violet mumbled as she locked glances with Syndrome again. He stopped suddenly and his hands separated, one of them moved to run through his fiery orange hair. He looked to be holding his breath and Violet wished he’d do so until he was blue in the face. Maybe even beyond that.

“How long do you plan on testing my patience, Parr?” Syndrome asked. Violet smirked, further irritating the man. “I don’t think you fully appreciate the situation you are in. If you keep playing these games I can’t be held responsible for what happens to you,” Syndrome said as he got to his feet and neared the bed. Leaning against the bedpost, he folded his arms and looked up to the ceiling, clicking his jaw in discontent. “I could end your entire world with a click of a button, yet you seem to take pleasure in pushing all of mine at every opportunity you see.”

“If you aren’t having any fun, you could always let me go,” Violet said ignoring the sharp pain in her shoulder as she laid back against the headboard. 

“Oh, you’d like that wouldn’t you,” Syndrome grumbled. “Well, strap in tight, super, because you aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. I can’t even convince myself to send you back into any of the test chambers with your current condition. That and I’m still convinced you’re going to keep up with this suicide path of yours…” His head turning to the floorboard as his voice trailed off. “You’re lucky that you didn’t break anything.”

“Because you are so concerned about my quality of life,” Violet said pointedly, turning her own head to the window. “Maybe next time I should just save you the trouble of having to debate putting me down like some workhorse and just take a few bullets instead,” she started, her own outrage rising. The nerve of the guy, using words that resembled any semblance of concern. “I can still play your games… But I want to lay out some new ground rules,” Violet stated and the man began to laugh.

“If you think that you are in a position to negotiate-”

“The mere fact that we are having this conversation tells me that I am of value to your projects, so yes. I do believe I have an advantage here,” Violet interrupted fully knowing that she was only making the ice beneath her feet thinner. 

When he approached the bed, Violet felt her blood slow to a crawl. Maybe she had reached his limit. It shouldn’t surprise her, but she would have thought that his corporate undertones would appreciate the art of making a deal, but she was clearly dealing with his darker side. She waited for the kill shot. A hand around her throat, her family's current location. Something painful. 

His hands were pressed down on the edge of the bed with enough pressure to make her body tilt towards him and he leaned in closer. If he was any more of a monster, Violet would swear he was preparing to rip her throat out with his own teeth. Maybe he was. 

“How about we discuss the terms starting with what to do about Tony,” he whispered into her ear.

Violet was stunned at the words. Hearing his name in the villain's voice. It felt wrong. Like desecration, or blasphemy. Nobody was supposed to say his name anymore. She didn’t want to hear his name anymore. A tear escaped from one of her eyes. She expected many things. But not him.

“Oooh, I  _ knew _ you had other people you care about! That’s why you went underground, isn’t it? For some dumb boy with dreamy eyes and good looks- Jesus that’s pathetic.” Syndrome took the tear as a sign of fear. He was more than ready to take his victory lap around the room. Pushing away from the bed he circled to the far end of the room, chuckling with each step as he rubbed his hands together. “Yeah, let’s negotiate, Parr. You cut the crap right now otherwise I’m going to find this little boyfriend of yours and put him through a world of hurt! He must be the fellow who the cops are talking to!”

Grinning, he looked to Violet who looked more distraught than ever. He had her now. That’s what all the bad guys in the old movies would do, right? Dangle the damsel before the hero, only the damsel here was the hero and whatever fool she had in her life probably had no clue who she really was. They were both out of their leagues now, the boy with Violet, and Violet with thinking she could continue with her defiance with him. 

But then Violet began to move from the bed. She moved to the writing desk, limping as she did. Syndrome raised an eyebrow at the super’s priorities, but hell, stress had a way of clamping the mouth shut. Pressing his back against the wall behind him, Syndrome watched as she bent over the desk and began to scribble something down onto a notepad. Violet quickly ripped the sheet away and trudged up to her captor, and against better judgment she shoved the paper against his chest, allowing Syndrome to wrap a forceful hand around hers.

“What’s this Parr, cat got your tongue?” Syndrome snickered trying to find the woman’s eyes but they were elsewhere. 

Somewhere far away from where they stood. 

“It’s where you can find him,” Violet mumbled as she pulled her hand back, something that Syndrome allowed. How could he not let her go? She just made the hunt easier for him. 

“Aww, what’s the matter, did you guys have a bad break up? Or are you just realizing that you can’t hide anything from me now?” He asked, smirking as he watched Violet make her way back into bed. He shook his head, wanting to drag out the situation longer. It was only fair for him to return the torment she had delivered to him. Clearly she wouldn’t play along so he moved to leave the woman alone to sulk but stopped in his tracks as he read the details she gave him. 

_ “Anthony “Tony” Rydinger _

_ 1800 Pastureview Drive _

“Is this a fucking joke?” Syndrome asked as he turned back to the bed to stare at the unresponsive lump. “Parr. Look at me when I’m talking to you!” Violet sat up at the demand, her back was to him but she half-turned to meet the request. A smile was on her lips, but fresh tears were streaming down her cheeks.

“I beat you to it,” she answered with a cracked voice. Syndrome remained in place, still holding the paper. “And for your information, he did have dreamy eyes, and a handsome face, but he wasn’t dumb... I was the dumbest choice he ever made,” she muttered before laying back down. 

Syndrome stood in place for another moment. Violet couldn’t say how long his presence remained but after she heard the door slam and his footsteps down the hall the floodgates opened and Violet felt as though she had lost him all over again. 

\--

Buddy knew the address. Municiberg Memorial Cemetary. It was where his mother was buried. Where he watched her go into the ground at the ripe old age of eleven. The plot beside her was still empty, intended for her husband, his father, but as far as Buddy was concerned a ditch was too good for his old man. Of course, the government who believed him to be dead didn’t see his name to be fit enough to be mounted onto the gravestone either.

Buddy clenched the paper in his hand as he made his way down to the digital lab. The computer system in his den would have sufficed for a simple search on the guy, but he needed more details. Well, it wasn’t necessary, but he was too nosy for his own good. He didn’t think he would go as far as hacking the NSA to find what he desired, but if it took that he’d damn well make sure it wasn’t just some cover story she spun on the spot. 

Punching in the name into the search engine the first few hits that came up were news articles. All of them pointing to some tragedy a couple of years back at the pier. Twenty-seven dead, including the man of the hour, and three mobsters. 

Buddy dragged his finely trimmed nails against his scalp as he read over the articles. It was a job done wrong on both sides it seemed. The Triplet’s Mayhem for trying to snatch a high profile target in such a crowded place and Violet- well any save that has a death count doesn’t feel like a save- and the amusement park was totaled, closed down for repairs for two months, which was pretty bad given the event happened in the prime summer months. The press didn’t hold it against her, at least not for the most part. They weren’t giving her any praise either, but as one columnist pointed out, ‘Invisi-girl’s element is not in the public eye, but the private eye’. 

And in Buddy Pine’s honest opinion, that was a load of crap. 

There was no denying that the woman had a knack for detective work, even before adding her invisibility into the equation. She had managed to expose a few of his competitors and even one of his more favored clients, though Grand Larceny did have it coming- but in the short time that Violet was in his grasp she had displayed mastery over her powers and was putting up a better fight than the supers he attracted to Nomanisan. 

If she really wanted to, Violet Parr could put every other super to shame with her gifts. 

Who needed super strength when she could create a battering ram with her mind? Outrunning bullets wasn't necessary. Not only do her force fields protect her from harm, but they also deflect the projectiles right back. And as much as Buddy enjoys taking a flight, Violet can climb just about anything by summoning her force fields as platforms. Hell, he had yet to figure out how she managed to split his droids in half! 

But still, she was best known for not being noticed. He had a good feeling that there was still a lot of untapped potential in the super. And now that he had reopened this wound of hers. He was no stranger to melancholy, though he presumed that the wrongful death of a loved one was much more debilitating than betrayal. The possibility of getting her productivity back up in the coming days was looking slim to none. He rubbed his face as he began his internal debate of what to do next.

_ ‘You could threaten her life’ _

“Hey idiot, she had no problem trying to kill herself before and I imagine that she’s got death on her mind more than before. You’d just save her the trouble.”

_ ‘You know you're not above torturing for information…’ _

“Yeah, but I’m looking for a fit to fight super, and that requires being healthy in mind and body. So, torture is off the table.”

_ ‘Threaten the fam?’ _

“We brought that gun out the first day.”

_ ‘Threaten Winston?’ _

“Oh, she’ll call that bluff for sure,”

_ ‘What about digging up the boyfriend’s grave?’ _

“WOW. OKAY, NECROMANCER! … Christ, have I really hit the bottom of the well already?”

He sat in silence, trying to come up with something new. Something fresh. But he didn’t have to, or at least he would hope that he wouldn’t have to. Violet already had terms she wanted to discuss before he fucked everything up more. 

He could just hear her out and go from there. 

Flipping to the security footage, Syndrome eyed the bed that Violet was still in. She wasn’t going anywhere tonight, and he suspected she’d be in this state well into tomorrow. Releasing a heavy sigh, he nodded at his current plan. 

He would hear her out. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



	10. Schizotypal

"How's the situation at home?" Winston Deavor's voice came through the receiver of the phone Buddy kept in his personal den. "This is really turning out to be a week from hell, huh?" The man asked while leaning back in his office chair and his feet up on his desk. 

"You have no idea," Buddy murmured back as he sat on the edge of his home office desk, rubbing his eyes. He had spent the entire night hacking into the NSA servers trying to dig up what he could on the incident at the pier but came to the same brief explanations that could be found in the news articles meaning that someone on the inside was hiding something. A quick guess would be Dicker trying to protect Violet somehow but he couldn't say for sure. Not without proof. Turning his eyes to the monitor that displayed Violet still in bed, he racked his head on how he should best approach the situation, but it was obvious to him that the super was currently a flight risk. 

"I'm not sure when I'll be able to make it back to the office, Win. I can work remotely though I just need to-" 

"Hey, woah there, champ. Don't worry about it!" Winston said cheerfully. "I know you are good for the work- hell- with the numbers you produce I was worried that all you did was work, but I'm happy to know you've got a life on the outside. How is your dog by the way?" 

"Come again?" Buddy asked, honestly confused. 

"Oh- sorry, it’s just that, well, yesterday Cliff told me you had a dog at home? Is she alright?" Winston asked with concern. "She didn't, you know, did she?"

"Oh, my dog, yeah no, she is fine. Yup, just fine. A bit lethargic actually but she'll turn around no problem," Buddy said, silently mouthing curses to himself. Leave it to HR to divulge information that they shouldn't. But he should have made some other excuse to leave early yesterday, or at the very least not liken Violet to a domestic animal.

"Oh good, that's swell to hear James. What's her name? And the breed?" Winston asked excitedly. "You'll have to bring her to the office! When she is well that is."

Buddy stared at the ceiling with regret. He couldn't justify blaming Violet for this mess, he was the one who had brought it up to Cliff, but he was going to pin the disaster on the super anyway. To keep up this charade he would have to invest in a dog now. The gravity felt heavier somehow in this moment, in this room. He was unraveling, off his game. Like Issac Newton's apple was cracking his skull for the mistake of parking himself against the wrong tree.

"Apple. Her name is Apple, and I don't know the breed, she's a rescue. Bit of a mix, but I don't think she plays well with others," he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose as Winston cooed with delight on the other side of the line. 

"Well, as soon as she is well enough to travel I expect to see this mysterious Apple for myself! I've got a way with animals. Anyway, I'm going to let you get to it and don't worry about coming in tomorrow either. I'm really hoping to see Apple on Monday though!" 

"Goodbye, Winston. I'll see you Monday," Buddy replied before dropping the phone onto its resting place as he focused on the monitor again. 

As far as he knew, Violet hadn't eaten a thing in the last 24 hours at least. He debated on letting her come out on her own time, but he was a very impatient man. 

\--

Violet's eyes were heavy and red from the combination of crying and a very broken sleep pattern. She couldn't say if she slept for 12 minutes or 12 hours, but even that mattered little. She just wanted to sleep and wake up somewhere far from here. Or maybe not wake at all. 

The door opened and Violet didn’t budge from her spot. There was no threat that Syndrome could taunt her with in this current moment. Violet wished this weren’t the case. It was selfish, wasn’t it? To not care? Though that wasn’t entirely true. The social worker acting as a therapist within the NSA told her that sometimes we care so much we aren’t able to act on our emotions- or some garbage like that. 

Maybe if she had kept going to those sessions she wouldn’t be in this mess right now. That she would have stayed in the hero gig that was begging for her to come back. Maybe she would have had the willpower to sit up and strike her captor again, to find the courage to reject the tray of food he placed on her nightstand. 

Violet blinked at the sight of the bowl of soup and glass of water that Syndrome placed beside her. Her eyes didn’t waver, not until Syndrome inserted himself into the frame. He was kneeling, an arm draped across the mattress and his chin pressed over the limb as he tried to have his eyes meet hers. 

“You need to eat something,” he said rather softly. Violet motioned to roll away from his gaze but the hand that wasn’t on the bed was on her shoulder, locking her in place. “Parr, you need to eat.”

“Next you’ll tell me that I need to do more parlor tricks for you,” she mumbled dryly, her eyes on the glass of water briefly, wanting to reach for it, but to do so would be an act of weakness. She shifted her eyes to Syndrome and blinked slowly as he moved his hand to her forehead. 

“Well, I can’t ask you to dance today, monkey. You’ve gone and given yourself a fever…” he murmured, making a face that was more analytical than concerned. Getting to his feet he walked to the bathroom in her room and rustled through the cabinets and came back with a bottle of ibuprofen and produced two of the tablets into his hand. Setting the bottle down onto the nightstand before he took a seat on the bed holding out the pain relief in one hand as the second brought the water over. 

Violet wanted to remain spiteful, but she had to admit that she didn’t have the energy to fight him now. Sitting up, she plucked the pills from his hand, popping them into her mouth before taking the glass from his hand and washed them down. She winced as she nestled back into the pillows and kept her eyes closed as she gripped the glass tightly. She hoped he’d leave after the complying but she could still feel the pressure of his presence. 

“If I take a bite, will you go away?” She asked. He didn’t seem pleased with the question, but he wasn’t furious either. Not yet anyways.

“I came here to negotiate, Parr. And I don’t know about you, but I prefer to do business with something in my stomach,” Syndrome replied as he reached for the glass in her hand, which she relinquished without question. “I’m not going to force-feed you though.”

“Mmmm, you sure about that?” Violet asked, opening her eyes and met his eyes by will. “You haven’t had a problem forcing me to fight your toys or stay underneath your toys," she stated before taking another sip of water as he nodded in agreement.

“Well, I’d really rather not end up with hot soup in my lap- but maybe I’ll shove some spaghetti in your face later,” He said with a smirk and she actually smiled at the empty threat too. “Last night, before I… What conditions are you looking for?” Syndrome asked quickly, trying to make a recovery from driving down the wrong road again. She closed her eyes. She didn’t want to deal with this now. She couldn’t deal with it now, but if not now then it could be never. Syndrome probably saw this act as an olive branch but it was whiplash to her. Going from the most despicable thing on the planet to a semi-reasonable guy within a day. It was manipulative. That’s what bad guys do… No. That’s what everyone did. Including her right now. 

“First, I don’t want to deal with that nanny-bot you made,” Violet said, opening her eyes again. “If I have to deal with your stupid robots trying to kill me in your basement then I should at least be able to have a break from potential murder machines up here,” Violet stated bitterly. 

Syndrome considered the request briefly before giving a nod.

“Alright, fine, done. But if you so much as think about pulling another stunt like the one you did with the mugs I’ll have a robot so attached to you we’ll call it your hemorrhoid,” Syndrome said observing her still, knowing there were more demands to be made but Violet remained quiet for a time, thinking. 

“You talked about me having enrichment around here but there isn’t anything for me to do other than watch TV, and the only books you have laying around are things on robotics, physics, and stuff. I want to read material with substance. Novels, magazines, autobiographies- not mad scientist manuals,” Violet said as she turned her attention to him again. Syndrome bit the inside of his cheek at the last dig but didn’t argue, still waiting for the big one. 

“Anything else, Parr?”

Violet took in a deep breath and nodded, preparing for the blowback but she had to stand her ground. Even if he refused her she would have to at least show that she wasn’t willing to bargain either. 

“I’m not going to even attempt to ask for my life or freedom at the end of all this- if there is even an end,” Violet said nervously but her eyes showed that some confidence still lingered. “Nor am I foolish enough to think that I can ask you to give up whatever grudge it is that you have against my dad. All that I ask is that you leave the rest of my family out of this.”

“No way in hell,” Syndrome retorted. “What am I going to have over your head? A book allowance?” The man asked dubiously as he turned his head and stared at the wall ahead. “You took a chance on your own life so clearly I can’t just do a good ol’ ‘I’ll kill you if you don’t’ gag.” He motioned to leave the bed, seeing no point in continuing the conversation at hand with such a high demand, but Violet grabbed his hand, keeping him in place. He turned his eyes back to the super, waiting for the compromise.

“Syndrome, wait,” Violet started before she pursed her lips together in frustration. “At least keep my brothers off of the chopping block then,” she asked. This was going to be her original bargain, but if she learned anything from her crisis negotiations professor it was that you always worked down with demands, not added to them. “Jack-Jack and Dash, they won’t be a threat to you at least. Dash is by no means the brightest bulb in the family and Jack-Jack… well he was just a baby when you-”

Syndrome extended the hand that wasn’t in her hold out to her. Violet stared at the gesture blankly before looking at his face again.

“You’ve got yourself a deal, Parr,” the man stated and Violet hesitantly lifted her hand off from the one she had pinned down and grasped the hand that was offered, giving it a firm shake. Syndrome was the first to loosen his grip and Violet let her hand drop moving to rest back against the headboard and he moved from the bed and crossed the room, stopping once he was in the doorway. “Oh, and Parr? Nobody calls me that anymore.”

Violet stared at him in confusion before processing that she had called him by his villain moniker, or did he see it as his hero name? It wasn’t like there was anyone else she could talk to in the place so not having a name to address him by wouldn't make a difference to her. 

“I suppose I should just call you asshole, and other terms of endearment then, huh?” she asked, clearly feeling well enough to push the boundaries again. What surprised her though was that he laughed. An actual honest laugh.

“I have a feeling you were going to do that anyway,” he chuckled looking back. “I’m going to accomplish the second portion of your ransom list now, among other errands I need to see too. I’ll be out for a few hours. I’d suggest you get some sleep, or at least enjoy your cold soup.” 

Violet gave a single nod and Syndrome shook his head, waving a hand above him as he walked away. Feeling a small sense of victory, Violet laid back down and rubbed at her eyes. He was still a monster in her book, but he wasn’t as cold as his robots.

\--

Buddy Pine had driven into town to see to Violet Parr’s demands and the task was a little more troublesome than he had originally anticipated. The issue wasn’t finding a dealer in books and other reading material, the problem laid in choice. He wished that the woman was a little more specific in her desired reading material. Of course, money wasn’t an issue for him, so, he just pulled a few of the books on display, along with some blind choices. Worst case scenario was that she’d hate these more than the ‘mad scientist’ material he had at home and she could just tell him exactly what she wanted for the next book run. 

The bigger problem or at least the more concerning problem was that of the situation of his supposed dog. 

Even as a kid, Buddy didn't much care for animals. They were messy, obnoxious, and overall an unnecessary hassle. Buddy wouldn't have had an issue telling another lie to Winston in that his dog tragically died of asphyxiation in the gas leak. That would have been the easier route on the surface. However, Winston Deavor came off as the kind of guy who would go out and buy a litter of puppies to cheer someone up over the loss of a dog. He’d rather deal with the problem of a dog for a few years then be forced with something for a decade. Though the super in his care should have a much longer lifespan- should being the keyword.

Stepping into the Wilco County Animal Shelter, Buddy strolled up to the reception desk and immediately began to fill out an adoption form. 

"I'd like to walk out with a dog today, it has to be a female dog," he said without looking up.

"Well certainly, sir. Were there any other traits you were looking for in a companion?" The brunette woman behind the counter asked as Buddy handed back the paperwork.

"A mutt will do. Preferably something older? I'm not in the position to be potty training a puppy," he said moving aside as the woman walked out into the lobby. 

"I think that can be arranged mister…" she paused and checked the paperwork he had handed her. "Mr. Everett. If you would follow me please." 

Led into the back with the kennels, the stench made him want to go back on the plan instantly but he was already here and he wasn't one to pull out of plans. His eyes shifted from side to side as they walked down the row. All the dogs were barking, he could hardly hear the woman's voice as she recommended rescues. They stopped as the woman pointed to a Doberman and Buddy quickly realized that maybe a smaller breed might be easier to maintain. 

He walked ahead seeking out the smaller pens but stopped short seeing a shorthaired brown and white dog. The label on the kennel door placed the dog at 7 years of age, a bull terrier mix who was dubbed as 'Fiona'. The name would have to go, but this was the only dog in the joint that wasn't bouncing off the walls. Maybe she could teach his other ward how to sit still too. 

\--

Violet had slept the rest of the day, but she wasn't the least bit worried about ruining her sleep pattern. It wasn't like she was really expected anywhere else. Sitting up she eyed the tray and it had dawned on her how hungry she was. 

Still stiff from having her ass handed to her by the POD, Violet slowly made her way downstairs with the bowl Syndrome had brought her. She could have left it for one of his robots to care for but she also wanted to make sure Syndrome was good on his word about giving her access to the devices again. 

Barefoot, she trodded into the kitchen and froze seeing a dog hunched over a bowl of food. Syndrome was also in the room, a chicken dinner and a glass of red wine in front of him, but Violet only had eyes for the dog who had finally lifted its head from the bowl. 

Violet quickly placed the uneaten soup into the sink and dropped to the floor to greet the dog who was more than happy to climb into the super's lap. Licking her face as she scratched behind the dog's ears.

"Hey there pretty girl, hey," Violet said in near tears. Running her hands over the dog's coarse fur coat, she turned her attention to Syndrome who watched the display with some indifference. "You got me a dog?" She asked, hardly believing she was actually experiencing this. "I know I brought up the whole enrichment factor but this… oh gosh my parents wouldn't even consider letting us get a dog growing up!" She said, hugging the animal as it slumped its entire weight against her frame.

"Actually I-..." Buddy started but stopped himself. He had expected Violet to be in a state of melancholy for at least another day or two, but clearly, the dog had a positive effect. Why shouldn't he take credit for the joy the super was currently experiencing. That and she could take over the animal's wellbeing, which could keep her attention on something else other than him. Two birds, one stone. "Yup. The dog is your responsibility though," he said as he stabbed at a brussel sprout on his plate. 

"Thank you," Violet said softly, making the man pause again. 

He turned to look her way and found that her eyes focused back on the dog again. He almost replied 'you're welcome' but bit back the words.

"Don't mention it," He said, watching as Violet buried her tear-streaked face into the dog's coat. Maybe his slip up on owning a dog wouldn't be so bad after all.


	11. Foreign Accent

Rick Dicker observed the giant rock formation in the entryway of the Parr residence without a hint of being impressed. Whoever had designed the place was clearly an asshole. If the buyer was someone different than the architect, that person was a bigger asshole.

Winston bought up the property too, but the guy was just… enthusiastic to put it nicely. Dumb to put it bluntly.

Shaking his head, Dicker made his way to the kitchen to speak with Bob and Helen. This went against nearly every protocol he knew, but if he didn't keep Bob in the know he knew that Mr. Increible might end up contaminating one of the crime scenes, or accidentally putting a suspect into a coma.

The parents clearly weren't sleeping. It had been a week since the last time anyone had seen Violet and the two clearly weren't taking it well. Setting his briefcase down, Dicker wasn't sure where he should start. The bad news or the worse news. So, he just opened his mouth.

"At this time we don't have any viable suspects," Rick started as he dug out the phone call log from DevTech, two red circled around two separate call times. Both calls were made to the number of this house. "Your daughter called the house again a little after 7PM. Was there a voicemail from your daughter?"

The pair paused and looked to one another before returning their gaze back to Dicker, shaking their heads. He thought as much.

"The call on her side lasted less than 45 seconds. Bob, Helen, there is no easy way to say it so I am just going to say it. Your daughter was abducted from DevTech, and I don't think she was taken by a predator."

"What are you saying, Rick's Bob asked.

"I'm saying that I think whoever took your daughter wasn't interested in Violet Parr, or anything regarding her status as a young woman. I think whoever took Violet was actually after Invisi-girl. And I think she was aware that she was in danger."

\--

Buddy had given Violet a recovery day, and being that he was given a direct order from Winston to look after his dog, he decided to do just that. Thankfully the dog was far more personable than he had expected so showing up to the office Monday morning did not look to be a problem.

Sitting outside with his tablet in hand he watched the footage of Violet slicing the droids over and over again as Violet played fetch with Apple. He was about to press the play button again when a slobbery ball was lopped onto his white dress shirt. The look of disgust that he made was soon followed by a snort and a fit of laughter from Violet.

"I'm glad to see you are well enough to push my buttons, Parr," he muttered as he placed the tablet onto the table beside his cup of coffee, the other hand taking hold of the slimy ball, chucking it to the side for Apple to chase after.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself," Violet said, the laughter still lingering. "What are you even watching anyway? You're so fixated by it."

Buddy looked away from the woman and strummed his fingers against the top of the glass table top. He didn't desire to talk shop with her. While he did take great amusement in irking her with the ways that he was using her time in the test chambers this was different. He wanted to solve the puzzle without help. Not that he expected her to tell him how she managed to mutilate his toys. He was so enveloped in his own thoughts that didn't even notice that Violet had swiped the tablet off of the table until she hit play, the audio bringing him back to the moment.

"Ah. I didn't realize you got off on me breaking your stuff," Violet taunted as Apple planted herself between the two, chewing on the tennis ball that was tossed around all morning. "But all anyone at DevTech knows about James Everett is that he is a workaholic."

"You only live forever if you've made a lasting imprint," Buddy started with a shrug. "But yes, It is for work. You know, the second main reason you are here," he said getting to his feet. The comment made Violet look his way again.

"I thought that was the only reason," Violet said as she handed the tablet back to him which he immediately placed onto the table again.

"No. Reason number one of you being here is because you are a loose end. Couldn't run the risk of you telling your old man or Dicker about me," he said, stepping around Apple to walk towards the forest. Tonight would mark a week of him taking her though in some ways it felt much longer. She had provided him with enough data as it was to improve his criminal line of products, but there was always room for improvement. Maybe even making something new- but before he even got to work on recreating her force field powers he needed to understand them fully first.

"That saw blade technique- how did you do that?" He found himself asking out loud. He didn't mean to, but it was bugging him. That metal was damn near impenetrable, but she kept on cutting them down.

"Do you want me to show you?"

Buddy blinked at the response and turned to face the super again. She must be pulling his leg, or maybe it was a threat. Surely that was the case. Offer up the chance to observe up close and then she'd just slice his head clean off.

"I think I'm good enough for a round in the chamber today, I know you said you wanted me to rest before putting me back to work but I can show you if you want," Violet mumbled as she shoved her hands into her jacket pockets, her eyes on Apple who had successfully destroyed the tennis ball. No live rounds though- just the broken robots from before. If you haven't scraped them that is," Violet said as she scuffed the grass beneath her feet.

Buddy watched her. He had just had this talk with himself the other day, didn't he? To not underestimate her? Well, he liked to think he hadn't, as much as he toyed with her emotional state he was very aware of who he was dealing with. The Super-sleuth some would call her. A regular Sherlock Holmes if there ever was one.

She caught the Underminer when she was still in high school, and he hadn't even committed a crime before she found him either. It came off as a pure coincidence to some of the press coverage but she had actually triangulated his lair through the sinkholes he had left behind. An old rundown cement factory was his base and she found it where the NSA, police, and even other supers had failed. He had the reasons for her being his captive, reason number one was actually reason number three.

He had lied to her the morning she woke up here. Even if Violet Parr didn't show at that merger party, he still would have kidnapped her that night if she maintained employment with the company. Because she wasn't one to wait for a crime to happen, she was proactive. Sought out the trouble before it even happened. A habit she picked up from her mother no doubt.

Reason number one of Violet 'Invisi-girl' Parr being taken captive was because she was a threat.

"I'm sorry, Parr, I'm having a hard time believing that you would just willingly give away your secrets to me," he said approaching her again with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Who said I was going to give it away?" Violet said as she pivoted on the balls of her heels. "I want to make a trade."

"Oh, do you now? And I suppose your mother is that chip on the table?" He asked but Violet shook her head.

"I want you to promise that you won't market any design you make off of my powers," Violet stated.

"You can't be serious-"

"Oh but I am," Violet said holding her hand out. "Syndrome, Mr. Everett, Buddy Pine, or whoever you are calling yourself these days. I will show you my technique if you promise not to sell anything you make based upon my powers. Do we have a deal?"

Buddy stared her down as he unclasped his hands from behind him and they hung at his sides temporarily as he contemplated the deal. It would be so convenient to let the super show him how she managed to tear apart his multi-million dollar battle grade machinery like tissue paper. He raised a hand out toward the super, only to sweep his hand through his slicked back hair.

"I think I'll pass, Parr, besides, you still need to rest up! Can't have you overexerting yourself again so soon," Buddy said with a smirk, turning away as her face went through several stages of disbelief. He picked up the tablet on the table and tucked it underneath his arm as he looked back to the disgruntled super.

"Negotiations, huh. Man, I don't know about you but boy am I starved!" He said before entering back into his home through the dining room sliding door and made his way to the instant meal vending machine he had installed, selecting a grilled chicken salad as Violet and Apple made their way back inside, Violet sliding the door behind her as Buddy retrieved his meal from the dispenser and made his was back to the table settling down to enjoy the meal and slave over his collected data sets. He had a fair amount of information to report to his 'investors'.

Violet scrolled through the meal options she had for lunch. Salad with grilled chicken, beef stew, or a club sandwich. The choices for dinner had those options along with the addition of collard greens as a side or a main dish of fish. Leftovers were one thing, but the house of the future had a menu that operated like her high school cafeteria, offering only certain dishes on particular days of the week. The woman eyed the kitchen which was all in all, a shame. A blatant lie.

"Where do you get your food from?" Violet asked, looking across the room to Buddy who sat with his salad, his attention solely focused on the device in his hand that displayed her fighting the PODs and other droids.

"Hmm?" He responded without looking up from his work, earning a roll of Violet's eyes.

"Your food. You obviously don't make it, so where does it come from?" She asked as she hit the button for the stew and Syndrome peered at her from across the room. Clicking his jaw he set the tablet in his hand down and clasped his hands together.

"What do you mean by, 'obviously'?" he asked pointedly and Violet shrugged back.

"I mean, you don't cook it so do you have it preordered from some catering company, or do you have robots do that too?" Violet asked looking over her shoulder. "Is there anything that you do on your own anymore?"

"Why would I?" He asked, placing a hand under his chin. "I can better apply my time to things that are actually important," he replied, turning back to his work, a hand still supporting his head.

"I suppose you would let a machine read to you too, huh," Violet muttered as she retrieved the bowl from the compartment and walked to the dining room table. Setting down the bowl across from his seat she eyed him as he began writing notes on the pad beside him. "What are you writing?"

"What you just said," Syndrome said sharply and Violet looked down at the pad in confusion again. He had quoted her, but now he was writing out a math problem.

"Uhh, why?" Violet asked as she took her seat.

"Because it was a good idea," Syndrome said a little less quickly, not looking up from his hand. "Not a robot that reads, that is, but a program that transcribes words out loud. It'd actually be incredibly convenient for work. If I can come up with a prototype for DevTech there might actually be a pretty solid bonus in it for me as well- to sell on the market anyway." Syndrome mumbled as the hand that was under his chin was now in motion, practically talking for him. "Chances are the thing won't really make the company any money, not initially anyway, but it wouldn't have to for us to lose out on revenue. Government programs, nonprofit organizations, learning institutes, they'd all be lining up to get this into their places. I mean that could be a big game-changer for folks that can't read due to impairments or injury," Buddy said looking up to Violet again who was staring at him with astonishment. "What?"

"I- I'm confused," Violet confessed, the spoon in her hand swirling the stew but she had yet to actually eat the meal. "You would consider making something that would help people?" The man smirked as he set his pen down and reached for his glass of water.

"I help people all the time, Parr. It's what I do," He said, his eyes never leaving her. "Technology is progress, it's just a matter of who is able to access that tech that gives the means to improving life. I understand it's difficult to process for you, but I don't mind helping people, I'd venture to say I actually enjoy being the source that will help enable people to be able to obtain the best versions of themselves."

"I'm having a hard time believing that given that you actively killed people," Violet said as her hands were placed on the table. "All those supers you killed, the citizens on Municiberg- I suppose you believe that you were helping them, huh?"

"Actually I know I was helping the supers," Syndrome said with a casual tone, Violet's eyes widening at the boldness of the statement. He laughed and shook his head leaning in closer to her. "You know what those supers were doing before my pet project landed on their doorstep? They were miserable. They had been living the lifestyle of hero for so long that when they were forced to go into incognito mode permanently they just snapped! The government didn't put up any safety nets for them, there was no reintegration program, no comforting transition into civilian life. The NSA would just provide a couple of relocations and mind wipes for their best sups and that was it!" Syndrome said shaking his head, a chuckle emitting from his throat as he leaned back in his seat, his arms becoming more animated. "I'm not going to deny that I played a part in their demise, but for every super that died on my island, the government failed tenfold of that. The omnidroids took out 37 supers, but I gave them the one thing they had been desperate to have again."

"Oh? And what would that be?" Violet asked as she placed her clenched fists onto her lap.

"Purpose," Syndrome said and shook his head. "They at least died doing what they loved. Being a super- why, I could pull out the reports from all the interactions my team had with the supers- including the ones that we couldn't reach due to premature deaths done by their own hands. Drug overdoses, suicide, reckless endangerment- Tell me, Parr, had I not given your old man the chance to relive his glory days, do you think he would have survived living his lie much longer?"

Violet rose from the table, loathing the look of self-righteousness Syndrome was wearing. Her appetite was gone, replaced by fury for the narcissist across from her.

"You don't get to play the bigger person here," she said bitterly. "You manipulated people when they were at their lowest. You could have made some meaningful changes to their lives, created programs to help them thrive after their years of service, employed them to help solve other problems in the world but instead you turned those people into lubricant for your murder robots!" Violet shouted. She expected him to rise to the occasion of the fight here but Syndrome's expression was placid and for some reason that infuriated the woman more but the statement she had made sunk in.

She was going through the same motions as the supers he had eliminated from Nomanisa. They at least had blissful ignorance for their short time with Syndrome's toys. She was all too painfully aware of the improvements she was delivering and while she could decide to stop she would be signing her family's death certificate as well.

"Do you not feel the slightest bit guilty?" Violet asked. "Do you truly think yourself to be such a gift to the world? Hell- you must think you own it."

Syndrome contemplated the question briefly before shaking his head. "No. I know I'm not special," Syndrome said, getting up from the table and placing his palms onto the table as he leaned in across the tabletop. "But I'm having a good time proving that supers aren't that grand either. I'm just playing the oldest game on earth. Survival of the fittest, and I think I have a chance of winning… don't you?"

Violet didn't answer the question. Instead, she picked up her untouched meal and set the bowl on the floor where a patient and grateful Apple was waiting to be rewarded with some edible compensation. Violet quickly evaded from the room, and the man couldn't help but chuckle at the super's temper. He had no desire to antagonize her further. Checking the time he had a virtual meeting to prepare for anyway.

Leaving the dishes behind for his house bots to look after he returned to the digital lab and got himself comfortable for the meeting with his more 'sinister' clients. It never ceased to amaze Buddy to see the real villains of the world. Sure, yes, the bank robbers and small-time outlaws were bad, but compared to himself and those he preferred to handle business with, those masked criminals were saints.

It was dangerous to deal with such high-profile rollers but with any reasonable gamble, you have to risk everything to gain anything. His clients of course had risked working with him as well, and there was only one rule to this elite club. Don't give up each other's secrets. Inside hit jobs was fair game given their line of work, but handing their information over to a super or the NSA? That would result in a hefty punishment. As long as no one had outed him as the CEO of Kronos Incorporated he would keep his mouth shut on those he associated with as well.

Seating himself before the monitors, Buddy rolled his neck and began to set up the video monitors and pulled up the compiled video data he wanted to share with his friends. At the stroke of 1800 hours, Buddy started the meeting, and the squares began to light up, some were allowing video feed on their setups, others were either in on call or were a bit more camera shy. It didn't matter to Buddy if he could physically see them or not. He knew the details on everyone anyway and if he needed to he could hit each of them where it hurt the most. Their wallets.

"Good evening gentlemen," Pine started as he stared at the silhouetted figures and displayed folks on his screen. "Thank you for joining me this evening, I have some exciting updates to share, but before I begin is there anything anyone wants to share?"

"Is there a reason why Sardonic has been blacklisted? We received notice of this the other day and before we engage in any business with the criminal in question we want to know if he is a liability we should be made aware of," inquired a man with a heavy french accent, informing Buddy that he was being addressed by John Pierce LeBrock, a former fashion designer for villains, though the man did still produce some outfits from time to time.

"You have nothing to worry about if you don't mind only getting paid half of what is due," Pine replied as he looked upon the gaunt and pale Frenchman. "Anything else?"

A round of murmurs and some head shaking gave him the notice to proceed, which he did by sharing a clip of a blurred out Invisi-girl using her powers in one of the containment chambers.

"I am happy to announce gentlemen, that the Super Antidote Device is a success," Pine gloated. "According to my data, Invisi-girl rates in the top 10th percent on the Super Power index, and I'm confident that if it can contain her, it can contain any super," Pine said while interlocking his fingers together, ready to bask in the praise that was to come. And come it did.

Gasps, claps, and some lackluster cheers came from the audience giving Pine a reason to grin. There was no reason to be modest at this moment. He was among friends so to speak, though truthfully he wouldn't be caught dead in the same room with any of these men. Not just for business sake, but for his personal sanity.

"What an astounding specimen," came the British parliament member, Peter Ashbury of the evil executive group. Aside from Pine, Ashbury had the most to lose if he was ever discovered to be involved in this nefarious affair, though it would not be the most surprising news event of the world. Ashbury was one of the few politicians of the world who was against reinstating the rights of supers.

Someone began to say something in Japanese, making Pine turn his head to a new monitor. Foreign language was never an arena Pine could grasp, but the personal translator for the Yakuza crime boss asked when they could expect to see the cuffs on the street. Buddy was more than pleased to answer with the expected due date but LeBrock spoke first.

"Nevermind that, how much do you want for it?"

"I'd like to continue to test the limits of the device before I go commercial with it," Pine started as he began to play with one of the jagged scraps of metal on his desk, rolling the piece over his fingertips. "The pain simulators work for her without much of a problem but there are a few supers out there who might not be as affected by electric pulses so I-"

"No, no, no-" snapped LeBrock. "Not the toy, the super! I simply must have her!"

"Bullshit," came the gruff voice of the oil tycoon Paul Colton Jr. "I will be damned if I let some Frenchman soil an American super."

"Thank you, Paul," Pine said with relief. But the relief came too soon.

"I'll give you 2 million for her," Colton Jr. stated, and the bidding war commenced. Numbers pouring from all nine beings. Pine was so focused on the voices that in his outrage he hadn't even noticed that he had punctured his forefinger and thumb on the shrapnel he had pulled from one of the chambers that he inspected of Violet's handy work.

This was why he didn't play well with others. People tended to lack the foresight to take stock of what was important. What had the potential of changing things forever. Buddy once naively presumed that it was just those born into positions of wealth, be it gifts of power or those who came from backgrounds that never had to worry about keeping their heads above water, but over time he realized that people were all the same.

Self-indulgent idiots.

"The super isn't for sale here alright?!" He shouted, dropping the bloodied piece of metal back to the pile with the rest of its siblings. "With this device, you can catch your own damn supers and-"

"Don't be ridiculous Pine," muttered the voice belonging to the Argentine scientist known only by their villain name, Doctor Schmerzen. Buddy sent his narrowed eyes to look at the tanned man with a shaved head and dark brown eyes. "Everything and everyone has a price, including yourself. Or are you forgetting who you owe your success to?"

The figures on screen all nodded in agreement with each other and the doctor continued.

"We could very well take on the task of collecting supers ourselves, but why do that when we can just pay you to do it for us, yes? Now I am fascinated with this super, so care to tell us where the bidding starts?"

This was exactly why Pine hated these men. It was hypocritical of him to be critical of the way that they conducted their business being that he was also guilty of buying people off, but they were missing the point of it all. Or maybe he was the one who was missing the point.

"As I said, she isn't for sale," Pine muttered, a laugh emitting from the man with a western accent.

"Sounds to me like Pine is keeping all the good stuff for himself again," Colton Jr. drawled from the comfort of his estate. Pine made a very poignant note in his head to start spitting out his solar power inventions through DevTech first thing Monday morning.

"Mister Shinota would also like to place a bid on the super, but the price is negotiable based upon the super's purity," the translator stated, making Pine turn his direction to their screen.

"Jesus is everyone deaf or is my mic just muted? I've got dibs on the super okay, I need her for work, and for the record, she is a full-blooded super, I can guarantee that," Pine said, throwing his hands up. "Not like you lot would need her anyway- I mean what would she be, an invisible fashion model? Someone to contain oil spills?" He asked as he rubbed his temples.

"We apologize for the miscommunication but that was not the form of purity Mister Shinota was referring to," the translator came again.

'Oh yeah, Buddy, you missed the point big time,' Pine thought to himself as he sat up and began clacking away at his keyboard as the business meeting swiftly turned into locker room talk. Hitting the final key Pine pushed the chair out from behind him and placed his hands onto the desk before him as he leaned closer to the camera.

"Gentlemen, if you would all kindly check your transfer accounts with me you should be able to see that there is a refund for the assets that you fronted me for this project specifically," Pine said, ignoring the facial expressions his criminal associates were delivering to him now. "It is with immense regret that I inform you all that the SAD prototype was a complete failure."

"Pine, are you really going to throw away this fruitful arrangement over a single super?" spoke Julian Watts, a land developer who was best known for marrying some actress. Other than being a part of this club, his most secretive deed was paying off hitmen to kill land activists in the rain forests. "I know it's a silly thing, but it isn't every day that a super is easily available at this capacity. I think you should take one of these men up on their bids."

"No Jules, I don't think I will. And I'm not throwing this relationship away over a super," Pine stated plainly. "I'm trashing this arrangement for the principal of the matter. I invented something that could solve your super problems in a few short weeks if you planned it out right. Make things easier in the long run, and what do you all focus on instead?" Pine asked, pulling his hands off of the desk and aligned his hands with his temples. "You hyper fixate on the super. This is behavior that I would expect out of some rookies- not seasoned 'masterminds', though realistically only three of you actually worked for the pedestals you currently sit on." Pine muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand as the other hovered over his keyboard. "I gave Sardonic the benefit of a second chance, but this clearly isn't going to work out."

"Pine, you are making a mistake," Doctor Schmerzen urged. "We can work out a deal that can benefit you handsomely," the doctor said gently but Pine shook his head.

"I assure you gentleman, there isn't an offer that any one of you can make that will make me reconsider," Pine grumbled with disgust before cutting the transmission off.

Taking a deep breath Buddy Pine drummed the fingers that were still on the keyboard as he contemplated his next move. There was no doubt that this was the most expensive blunder he had created for himself but he had survived worse. Much worse.

He dug into his pant pocket to pull out his pillbox and took out two of his codeine pills, biting into the bitter chalk colored tablets. He didn't need them at the moment, but he found that the pills quelled the bad temper that would fuel him to make decisions that would flare up old injuries.

Making his way back up above ground, Buddy observed Violet as she sat in the living room with a book in hand, Apple laid on the couch as well and Buddy was prepared to lay down the ground rules of no pets on the furniture but the rule would likely go unnoticed anyway. Violet had yet to take notice of his presence, but given their last conversation, he believed that the super would ignore him unless prompted otherwise.

"I'd get some sleep if I were you, Parr. You've got a long day ahead tomorrow," he said as he walked behind the couch. She sat up and gave him one of her infamous death stares, triggering the dog to also sit up in alert, but Apple took his presence with a more positive outlook, jumping down to seek his attention. Buddy stopped to provide his uninjured hand to scratch the bull terrier mix behind her ear as his eyes met Violet's again. He had certainly won her attention now. "You're going to be working some overtime this weekend."

"Are you aware that you are bleeding on your carpet?" Violet asked as she snapped her book shut. Seeing that she was in the mood to fight, Buddy opted to move again before she could consider getting closer to him.

"We start at zero eight," Buddy answered back as he trudged the staircase to his room, silently noting to himself that Violet Parr was now undoubtedly the single most expensive thing he oversaw and that he'd have to start managing the estate like a museum under the assumption that someone might steal the priceless art from him.


	12. Delayed Sleep

Syndrome had worked Violet down to the bone that weekend. 

Saturday morning Violet went down to eat around 7:10, expecting Syndrome to join her for a cup of coffee and a bowl of gloating but he left a note instead, instructing her to get to work at 0800 sharp. Each time she had completed a test chamber he had sent her into the next room with only enough time for her to catch her breath, even her lunch was served within one of the locker rooms, and as much as Violet wanted to have a screaming match with the man something seemed off about him compared to the previous days. 

She wasn’t the cause of his frustration, she knew that much. If she was the problem, he would have had no problem notifying her what transgression she had committed against him, but instead, he seemed to be taking his frustrations out on her. Or it at least felt that way.

By the time that Syndrome told her she was done for the day Violet didn’t even have the energy to consider picking his brain. Sunday was more or less the same. The only real difference was that Sunday evening she waited for Syndrome to join her on the elevator ride up. He must have seen her on the security camera however as he opened the door to his office and Apple came bolting out for Violet’s position, weaving through the production line robots and up into Violet’s arms as she knelt down to receive the dog's affections. 

Violet looked up expecting Syndrome to be making his way up as well but she heard the door slam and frowned, but didn’t push the issue of his seclusion. 

“How about we enjoy what sunlight we have left, huh?” Violet asked Apple as she led the dog into the elevator. 

\-- 

While he had intended on sleeping Friday night, Buddy barely managed to steal more than four hours of shut eye between Friday night and Sunday morning. By that evening he was barely on autopilot. He knew what he was getting into when he linked himself up with criminal under realm. He was prepared for the risks that came along with crossing them and more than confident that he could handle whatever they threw his way.

So why couldn’t he sleep?

He replayed Violet’s sessions until his eyes threatened to explode in his head. He paused the frame and rubbed at his eyelid. The super would be here next weekend and the videos were on his hard drives. The one thing he needed was sleep. He was about to shut down the system when something caught his eye. A glare where there shouldn’t be one. 

Pulling his chair closer to the screen in front of him, Buddy zoomed in onto the frozen image of Violet’s thin forcefield, inspecting the source of the light infraction. He blew up the image as much as he could before the picture became too broken from the pixels but he knew exactly what he was looking at. He picked up a piece of shrapnel on his desk again and leaned back in his chair and he began to laugh, questioning who the genius in this house was. 

It took him a week and a day to see her method of destroying his androids. A tactic she had come up with in only the first ten minutes of playing his games. She’d mangle one droid enough to cause it to crumble into itself and then proceed to mow down the rest with the flakes and shrapnel it’s corpse left behind. He didn’t realize she had enough control over her powers to grasp something on the very edges of her forcefields, but she did. 

She was destroying his tech with mere scapes of metal and all he could do was laugh. Wiping his eyes free from the tears he had produced from the revelation. After he programmed the system to create slow motion bytes of all the recordings where she faced off the more aggressive robots, he made his way up top again to congratulate the super. Walking into the open living room, Buddy stopped to find the super that he had captured was out like a light. A book he had gifted her covered her chest, open and damaging the spine. Apple laid on the carpeted floor below her, also sleeping on her back. Had he seen the sight two decades ago he might have flipped at the poor book discipline, but there was something comical about the sight now. 

He had the daughter of his arch-nemesis as a lab rat- … No. That was more for his personal pride than actual entertainment. It was something else. The position she napped in, or the way she just continued to exceed his expectations with the most minimal effort.

He leaned against the wall with his arms folded, watching the novel on her chest rise and fall with each breath she took. He had wanted to wake her. To tell her how impressed he was with her. How he would be geeking out over the simplicity and irony of her technique for the next week but instead all could do was stand and watch her sleep as he came to terms with what he was currently thinking. 

It wasn't uncommon for scientists to get attached to their lab subjects, but this wasn't some rodent that was bred to die on the bleeding edge of science- this was, again, the daughter of his arch-nemesis. The peak of human evolution, the top percentile of super’s who could level an entire city if they wanted, decapitate entire armies, or mangle a fleet of ships without a second thought. 

And the word that he was currently associating her with was… cute. 

He quietly made his way for the stairs upstairs for his bed. He was clearly sleep deprived. That was the only reasonable explanation. He hadn’t even realized that Apple was following him until he was upstairs and before he could attempt to convince the pooch that she was better off staying by Violet the woman on the couch began to wake. 

Violet opened her eyes and turned her eyes onto the clock. It was only 8 PM if she was reading the clock right. She shifted in her seat, glancing up to see Syndrome who had an expression of guilt on his face. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” he quickly stated and Violet scoffed as she sat up.

“You kidnap me. Threaten my family. Keep me hostage to fight your murder-bots… yet you apologize for the accident of waking me,” Violet mumbled as she closed the book and set it aside as she turned her attention back onto the man on the staircase. “It’s a start I guess.”

Buddy could only smile and nod in response. In the grand scheme of things, waking her was the lowest offense he had committed against the super. He watched as Apple ran back down to Violet, clearly showing which of the two she enjoyed more. 

“I’m bringing her to work with me tomorrow,” Buddy stated suddenly. “Still have to sell the nice guy act to some folks.” He continued as he found himself descending the steps.

“I suppose robbing me of Apple’s company is to spite me as well?” Violet playfully mocked as she playfully rubbed Apple’s face. She sighed heavily and nodded, placing a kiss on top of the dog's head and smiled back at the ginger man but quickly frowned and got to her feet to approach him. “Jesus, when was the last time you slept? You look awful.”

“Gee, you sure know how to make a guy feel warm and fuzzy inside,” Buddy replied as he leaned back against the wall behind him as Violet stopped at a little more than an arms length from him. “I was about to call it a night now actually, but seeing that I’ve already woken you I just wanted to let you know I figured out how you do that saw blade thing of yours. Using broken pieces of the robots you manage to damage. Pretty impressive.”

“Oh,” Violet said suddenly as she folded her arms, her hands cupping her elbow rather than tucking into herself. “I guess you’re going to really up the ante from here on out, huh?” Violet asked.

Buddy considered the comment briefly but shook his head.

“No, not just yet,” he confessed as he slipped a hand onto the back of his neck. “Truthfully I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to top that ability of yours anytime this week. Just keep doing what you are doing I guess,” he said simply as knelt down to give some attention to Apple again, wondering if he would even have the energy or patience to handle the dog while at the office tomorrow. Though that’s what the interns were there for, right?

“So you aren’t mad?” Violet asked suddenly and Buddy’s eyes widened at the question. He turned his head quickly, placing himself in a vulnerable situation with Apple who began lapping at his ear. Making a noise of disgust, Buddy quickly got back up and shook his head as he palmed the slobbery skin. 

“Mad? Heck no! That’s honestly the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while. I’ve got a video rendering as we speak so I can watch your moves in slow motion!” Buddy said with enthusiasm in his voice. He couldn’t imagine how Violet was a part-timer with the skillsets she had. “Why the hell would I be mad?”

“Well you haven’t exactly made yourself available to be prodded this weekend,” Violet said with a shrug, keeping her eyes on the floor. “I wasn’t sure what was bugging you, but you figured out my trick and I just figured you were pissed off at something I did or whatever.”

Buddy was too tired to think. He shook his head as his hands were placed onto her shoulders, the contact making Violet bring her gaze from the floor and back to him, surprised to see a lazy smile on his face.

“I haven’t been outwitted like that since… Well, since your family took me out,” Buddy admitted and his head sunk below his shoulders and shook his head with a laugh. “Old habits die hard, but even now I can’t help but be a fan of the Incredible family,” he said as he dropped his hands from her shoulders and turned for the stairs again but stopped and looked back to the super as he recognized that he hadn’t really answered her question. “If I wasn’t happy with you I’d let you know. It’s a business-related issue that’s been eating at me, but you’ve got nothing to worry about,” he lied and Violet ate it up. “But don’t give me a reason to be mad at you either, kid.”

She nodded and turned back to the couch to collect her book and motioned back to the stairs where he had already ascended. Violet shifted on her feet on the floor below, still feeling something was off but the man was too exhausted to form a coherent conversation. He was conversational, sure, but his thoughts were scattered. 

“Well, you should get some sleep, but will I see you in the morning or are you going to sneak out like the thief you are?” Violet teased. Buddy must have been on the edge of mania because he humored her with a dramatic gasp.

“Madam! I have never stolen anything in my life!” He said as he held a hand over his chest, looking hurt at the accusation. Violet rolled her eyes but smirked as she began to climb the stairs, Apple running up the steps as well, pushing past Violet and Buddy on the way up. 

“And what do you call kidnapping me?” She teased stopping a few steps below him. The man shrugged as he turned for the side of the hall that housed his bedroom. 

“I’m rather fond of the term, ‘tactically acquired’,” Buddy quipped without looking back as he stepped into his bedroom and closed the door for the night.

\--

The alarm blared beside Buddy’s ear and he eyed the time telling device with contempt. He had a full night of sleep, but he did not wish to wake. He knew he had dreamed, and that it was a pleasant one, but the subject of the dream had escaped him the second his eyes opened. 

Swinging his legs over the side of his bed, Buddy got ready for the day. He took his pain meds and looked over the scars that covered his chest. Burns mostly, but the scar that bothered him the most, other than his bruised ego, was the thin, pale line that trailed from just above his navel to his left hip. He knew it was in his head, but it felt like the pain would flare up more around Violet. Like her bloodline triggered the pain- but then again she did have a tendency to raise his blood pressure... Showered, and dressed, Buddy made his way down the hall for the stairs and checked his watch to see how much time he had before he had to fly out. He had allowed himself the luxury of sleeping in to catch what missed hours of sleep he could get but now he really felt the pressure of having to rush to get to the office and bring Apple along for the ride. He partially hoped that the dog would be a terror in the office to deter Winston from asking for her to come back, but he had a feeling that it would become a regular thing to bring the dog along. 

He wasn’t surprised to see Violet sitting at the kitchen island already enjoying a bowl of cereal and a glass of water, but he was thrown off by the smile she was offering him.

“I see that you slept,” she said as she dug her spoon into the bow again. He nodded and moved to order up a cup of coffee to be placed into a travel mug. “So, what’s my mission for today?” Violet inquired and Buddy’s eyes widened at the question. He had forgotten to set up any of the chambers for her today. He licked his lips as he turned back to face her as his coffee was dispensed.

“I’m, uhh.. Giving you the day off.” Buddy said, his eyes searching for the dog, looking everywhere but on the woman’s face. But eventually their eyes met and she was delivering a mocking glance. 

“So. You give me the day off as you also deprive me of the company of Apple? You must really hate me,” Violet muttered before shoving the full spoon into her mouth. “Are you sure there isn’t anything I can do to pass the time by?” She asked as Buddy moved to the sliding doors where Apple’s leash hung around the handle. Seeing the movement, the door darted from her hiding place from underneath the dining table and began to paw at the door to go out. Buddy cursed silently looking back at the kitchen where his coffee mug was still waiting for him. 

“Yup, you caught me. I hate your guts so much that I’m asking you to rest and read books all day,” he muttered as he struggled to get the leash attached to Apple’s collar. “I’m the worst, I know,” Buddy said as he managed to snap the metal clasp into the collar ring. Turning to walk back across the room he stopped as he was confronted with Violet offering his dark blue travel mug to him. 

“Oh, trust me. I know you are,” Violet stated as she extended her arm out a bit further. Buddy accepted the mug gratefully. 

“Thanks,” he uttered softly and Violet released a single laugh.

“Wow. An apology and a thank you all within 24 hours? I must be dreaming because if I didn't know any better you are beginning to go soft on me,” Violet said as she folded her arms and Buddy just stared at her back. He swallowed and looked to the anxious dog attached to the rope in his hand before stepping back to the door. 

“I’ll be home at my usual time. Just stay out of trouble,” Buddy muttered as he pulled the door open and Apple burst through the open door ready to go.

\--

On his flight over to DevTech, Buddy remembered what he dreamed about. Or moreso who. 

He had the aircraft on autopilot after takeoff so he could tend to the somewhat skittish Apple, but even after the dog calmed down he let the aircraft run its course so he could argue with himself.

Maybe his associates, no, former associates, were right. He was getting possessive of the super. Soft even. No, if that was true he would have tried something by this point.

So what if he found her attractive? She was an attractive woman, and as a man, he had the biological imperative to seek companionship in women, and Violet was the only woman he had been around for long periods of time since… her. It was natural to form that kind of attachment, as long as he didn’t act on it, it would be fine. 

Prepping for landing, Buddy cast a quick glance to Apple and furrowed his brow.

“You’re going to keep me in line, right?” He asked, but the dog paid him no mind, it’s anxiety increasing as they made touchdown. “Lot of good you do…” Buddy grumbled as placed on a pair of aviator sunglasses. Stepping out of the hovercraft he helped the dog down to the landing pad, but upon turning Buddy froze seeing that Winston was waiting for him by the rooftop entrance. More concerning however was that he wasn’t alone. 

Standing beside Winston was none other than Rick Dicker.

Buddy felt the floor beneath him crumble and he began to trace the steps it took to get to the point. Naming his company after his failed plot to become a super was likely the culprit for his downfall, but Buddy wasn’t ready to go down. A nervous hand moved to his watch but the leash in his hand suddenly yanked forward as Apple ran to the pair of men. With no choice to follow, Buddy shut his jaw as Winston knelt down to greet the excited dog, grinning from ear to ear as Apple licked his face. 

“Hey, woah there Apple! Can’t make James jealous here!” Winston roared with laughter as he did his poorest job to hold the dog back. “She is super friendly, I don’t see why you were so worried!” Winston continued as he stood up again and shook his head. “Where are my manners? James, I’d like you to meet Rick Dicker of the NSA! Rick, this is James Everett, my newest business partner.”

Buddy’s eyes darted back and forth between the pair of men. They weren’t on to him? Or maybe they were toying with him? Buddy kept his focus on Winston if only to try to ignore the presence of Dicker. He opened his mouth to ask why the NSA would possibly be on site but Rick was shaking his head.

“Winston, I really hope you don’t intend on introducing me to everyone with my actual place of employment. You can just say Agent Dicker, but then again maybe it’s best if you don’t introduce me to anyone else,” Rick said before he turned away and retreated into the corporate building leaving the two other men and the dog out in the open. 

“Don’t mind him, he’s just old school,” Winston said with a shrug as he held the door open for Buddy and Apple. “I should have warned you, I know, but I guess I called a little too late, how far do you have to fly to get here?”

“It’s only an hour commute, but what the heck is going on here, Win? The NSA?” Buddy asked in a whisper as they moved down the stairwell. Winston winced at the question and looked to Rick for guidance but the man either didn’t hear the conversation that they were having or elected to ignore it. 

“The building is officially a crime scene, James. I can’t tell you everything, but Rick seems to think that something really awful happened to Violet,” Winston said pausing on the staircase. “He thinks a villain might have captured the kid here, in this building,” Winston confessed and Buddy froze at the suggestion.

“Why would anyone kidnap an intern?” Buddy asked, and Winston realized he may have given too much information again. 

“Well, uh, you know bad guys, right?” Winston said quickly making his way down the steps. “Villains always kidnap pretty girls, think they make better hostages or something.” The lie that Winston had chosen to go with certainly wasn’t assisting his current dilemma but he nodded in agreement. 

“Right, makes sense,” Buddy whispered before looking up towards Rick who was giving directions to a few other agents. He should have called out sick, but that would have been suspicious. At the very least, he wasn’t the last one seen with Violet and he had the alibi of Winston walking him to the roof, but that wouldn’t be enough to keep Dicker off his trail, would it? Clearing his throat, Buddy remained at Winston’s side as he addressed the NSA operative. “If there is anything I can do to help you Mr. Ricker, please don’t hesitate to ask!” Buddy called.

“Well, there is one thing you can do,” Rick muttered, responding to the incorrect name called out by the executive. He looked over his shoulder as he handed off a clipboard to another agent. “You can stay out of my way.”

Buddy watched as the man who was heading the investigation moved to the elevator and he stood as still as could with Apple trying to greet every person in the room. This wasn’t good. This was very, very bad. But Dicker didn’t recognize him. Likely because of the sunglasses, or maybe he had really changed a bit over the years. No- Violet recognized him on sight. It had to be the eyewear. 

“Rough weekend huh?” Winston asked, drawing Buddy’s attention back to him. The man tapped the side of his own head. When the ginger man raised an eyebrow Winston continued. “The glasses? It’s okay buddy, you can tell me.”

Buddy cursed his alcoholic father for having slapped his birth certificate with a name that could be found in everyday friendly conversation. His mother swore it was a name bestowed to him for endearing means, but his father had a hard time remembering anything to do with them. Birthdays, anniversaries, when the bills were due. But he could remember his name, only because he called everyone ‘Buddy’ when they were drunk.

“Let’s call it relationship problems,” Buddy muttered thinking about the wrath he was likely going to face from some of his former associates and Winston grabbed his arm in astonishment. 

“You have a girlfriend too?! Oh, I have got to meet her as well! Must be as sweet as this Apple huh?” Buddy smiled back at Winston, but internally he was screaming. How much deeper could he dig this hole he was making? Why did conversations with this man always end up with his foot in his mouth.

“Ex-girlfriend,” Buddy quickly replied and shrugged. It wasn’t a complete lie “I broke it off though so it’s fine. Just unnecessary drama, you know?” Winston nodded and released the fellow business man before crouching down to see Apple again. “Anyway, I’ve got some plans that I want to get to the guys in the energy sector this morning. Just some designs I’ve got to tap into solar energy on a mass-market scale. Can I ask you to steal Apple from me this morning?” 

Winston looked back up and swiped the leash from his partner’s hand without a second thought. “I would be delighted!”

\--

It wasn't even 10 AM and Violet was bored out of her skull. She never thought she’d miss knocking out some of Syndrome’s tech, but it was at least something to pass the time by. And while she would never admit it, it was nice to flex her powers again… Especially since she would be the only one who’d get hurt if she messed up. 

Still dressed for a workout, Violet decided to do just that, sticking to the basics. Stuff that she’d have to do in high school. Push-ups, sit-ups, and jogging around the perimeter of the estate. She couldn’t say how ‘far’ she ran, but she was sure she at least clocked in a couple of miles. Afterwards she showered, dressed in clean clothes, and ate lunch. Altogether she only managed to kill a couple of hours from that, still leaving a few hours before Syndrome would be home again.

Violet was left with several options to bide her time. Read one of the few books she had yet to crack open, lay about in the sun, maybe take a nap while she was at it. Or, she could do what Syndrome explicitly instructed not to do. 

Cause trouble. 

Violet began to test the perimeter again, what rooms she could go into and what ones were blocked off. Again it was only the den that was barred to her, but there was one room that she had neglected to try simply because what were the chances that his bedroom would be available to her?

Violet stared down the hall that led to Syndrome's bedroom. It was the only room on that side of the home, likely to be large and potentially full of tech. It was a bold thing to try to infiltrate the place that he slept but she had already proved that she could not be left to her own devices for too long without being of some flight risk to him. Question was, would it be worth the hassle? 

Best case scenario: she is able to enter the bedroom and find some new reading material, maybe even a phone to call for help or at least some ammunition to taunt him with. News paper clippings, a compromising photo perhaps?

Worst case scenario: she is able to enter the bedroom and Syndrome ends up being a bigger freak than she previously imagined. Like some sort of freaky murder shrine for her family or a slew of vintage porn magazines stuffed within his mattress. 

The most likely scenario however was that she'd get shocked on contact with the doorknob. 

Taking a deep breath, Violet slowly walked down the length of the hallway and reached the door. She wasn't harmed upon touching the knob which meant it was time for the moment of truth. Where the hell did villains sleep anyway?

Stepping inside, Violet was shocked to see that the ceiling essentially consisted of one giant sunroof. She was aware of the large tinted glass walls that faced west, but the sun roof was a surprise. Along with the amount of plants in the room. Bamboo, snake plants, succulents and other leafy things were found in the room. There was already a mini greenhouse on the property, but Violet just assumed that was for evil medicinal purposes or something. 

Her eyes scanned around the rest of the room which seemed ordinary otherwise. Large, but like her bedroom there was nothing too flashy. A bed with dark blue sheets, a set of chairs by the window and two bookcases. Violet could hardly believe her luck on that, though she was somewhat upset that Syndrome had been holding out on her in the first place.

"Bingo," Violet murmured to herself and paraded over to the collection, finding that Syndrome had been keeping the best reads to himself. Works from greek legends all the way up to some more recent works of fiction and nonfiction, most of it dealing with science again.

She began to pull out a few books but stopped herself when she considered the room once again. It made sense to her that the guest room she was occupying didn't have much tech integrated in, but the most advanced piece of technology in Syndrome's room was a clunky alarm clock. It was something to be curious about, but she wasn't going to start asking him about the bedroom that she probably shouldn't be in. Not wanting to come off as too greedy, Violet decided to borrow only one book, though it was the largest book he had. A collective anthology of greek and roman myths. 

\--

It was closer to 7 PM by the time that Buddy returned to his estate. The agents, much to Buddy's surprise, had steered clear of him as they inspected every inch of the building. They did manage to find Violet's day bag in an abandoned office, likely the one that Gerard had snatched her from, but he had no clue that they would find on the security cams, if anything at all. 

Regardless, the devious intern didn't show up this morning, and he likely wouldn't show up to the office again if he had any sense at all. The NSA wasn't exactly inconspicuous with their presence today and being that an investigation was truly underway Buddy would have to set up a hit on the kid relatively soon. 

Boy. It was a good thing he didn't just burn some bridges with the top shelf of villains recently.

Opening the front door, Apple darted in with her lead trailing behind her as she made her way to Violet who was sitting on the couch with a book in hand and a cup of tea on the coffee table. 

"Hello, Parr," Buddy called as he shut the door behind him. "What trouble did we get into today?" He asked half jokingly.

"I went into your bedroom,' Violet answered as she pulled Apple up onto the couch with her, and just like that, Buddy's hope of ending the disaster streak was dashed.

"Why in the hell were you in my-" he cut himself off as Violet raised the massive book over her head to show and he gave a nod. At least she was being honest with him. "Fair enough…" he said as he removed his jacket and loosened his tie, ready to have a night cap for dinner. A dry martini was calling his name. "Didn't I leave you with enough books?" He asked as he walked out of sight.

"You did, but I was just curious," Violet called as she bathed Apple with attention, scratching the hard to reach spots for the dog, causing her leg to kick out of reflex. When Syndrome stepped back into view with a martini in hand, Violet focused her attention on him. "Mind if I finish reading it before I give it back?"

Buddy's blue eyes shifted to the book's resting place. Reading the title he smirked in response and began to walk away. "You can just keep it with the rest of yours if you want," He mumbled back as he took a seat across from her. "You'll never guess who showed up at DevTech today," Buddy said as he moved to sip at his drink.

"Was it Dicker?" Violet asked from behind the book, making the man stop mid sip. He blinked at Violet who gave a shrug at the response. 

"I didn't think Rick would be allowed to take on my case, but I'm not surprised either given how stubborn he is. He swears to me every year that he's going to retire but every year he stays on," Violet said, turning a page and focused on him again. "I'm guessing that he paid you no real mind today?" When Syndrome nodded she smirked and shook her head. "Well, his specialty is damage control and not crime scene investigation, but I think he'll come through."

Buddy wasn't particularly fond of how confident Violet was with the current scenario but he wasn't going to jump down her throat over it. He was safe for the time being, and would likely remain to be in decent shape with Winston coming to bat for him. Setting the drink aside, Buddy eyed the woman as Apple calmed down and draped herself over Violet's body.

Buddy briefly considered threatening the agent's life. The taunt would have been an empty threat because if an agent, even one as old as Rick, was to die while on the case it would certainly put DevTech under even more scrutiny. He also wanted to crack a joke about Violet having been domesticated quicker than he expected if only to get a rise out of her but he didn't want to ruin the peace after an excruciatingly long day. He should go down and see the slowed down videos that he started to render last night but he was still suffering from some sleep deprivation. 

'I'll close my eyes. Just for a few minutes,' he thought. Resting back he folded his arms tightly against his chest. Making sure to keep his watch out of sight. 

_He felt like he only just shut his eyes as Violet straddle herself onto his lap. Her powers binding him to the leather chair as she leaned over him. Her raven hair cascading down, grazing the side of his face._

_"What are you up to, Parr?" He didn't even try to fight against the heroine as she dragged her fingernails over his scalp and down to his neck. This woman could kill him, and to be frank, he'd probably allow it with the look she was giving him. Bedroom eyes. Not the hateful or sarcastic glances she typically delivered but full, intimate eye contact._

_"You should get some sleep," she whispered softly. Her voice didn't come off as seductive, it was airing more on the side of concern, but the words didn't fit in this situation._

_"W-what?" He mumbled breathlessly, as she leaned in closer, her mouth parting slightly as his was still agape, trying to come to terms with the scene._

_"I said that you should go to bed," Violet replied with a little more force as a hand gripped his shoulder and-_

Buddy sat up with his eyes wide open as Violet shook his shoulder. She was standing over him and pointing to the clock at the wall that read a quarter to midnight. He ran a hand through his hair and continued to hold his breath. Was this relief or disappointment he was feeling now? 

It didn't matter, he shouldn't be feeling that way towards the super! It was his brain running on empty that was producing the fumes. Without a word he rose from the chair, grateful that nothing else had risen and moved towards the stairs. 

"What were you dreaming about?" Violet asked suddenly, making the man stop in his tracks and turned his head towards her again. "You asked me what I was doing- so can I ask what you were dreaming about?"

Violet's question was an innocent one, and he very well couldn't dodge the question as he apparently had talked in his sleep. Taking a deep breath, Buddy decided that he could only tell her the truth of it all.

"I dreamt that you were going to ruin all my plans."


	13. Urban Survival

The next few days things went relatively back to normal for Buddy thanks to adding melatonin to his routine and staying away from the liquor cart. He didn't need any unnecessary influence over him right now anyway. He had the NSA practically on his front porch and a slew of notorious criminals lined up to crash in at a moment's notice. With that on his plate, the last thing he needed was fucking all his plans up because he wanted to get busy with the super.

There were ways to relieve that built up tension, but a hand could only do so much. He considered staying in the city tonight. Get a hotel room and get an escort, that would provide some solace to his current plight, right? He shook his head at the thought.

'Oh, brilliant ideas, Buddy. Let's go get your rocks off so someone can assassinate you in a five-star hotel!'

He was lucky that Violet hated his guts. Fortunate that she already found him to be a creep, a psychopath, and a murderer, and truth be told she wasn't wrong. He certainly checked off a fair number of boxes with his mental health evaluations back in the day. Would probably still ace those psych surveys today too. On what level was it healthy to be pining for the affections of the daughter of a man who rejected you? What sort of sick Greek myth was he trying to live out now?

Another Friday morning came around marking two weeks since their reunion of sorts. He wasn't particularly eager about going into work today, mainly because Friday signified the end of the work week and that he would be left to his own devices for the weekend again.

As he read the paper with a cup of coffee in hand Buddy was surprised that Violet hadn't joined him for breakfast. He hadn't made the challenges anymore difficult for her, at least he didn't think so. But it was a little out of character for her to not be out of bed this hour.

Before he could scold himself for tracking her schedule, Violet walked in with a paper in hand and he smirked as he raised his mug up.

"More demands already?" Buddy asked with a smirk as Violet laid the paper on the table and retreated to order up breakfast for herself.

"I don't expect the request to be met but it would be nice to put the kitchen to actual use," Violet replied with a shrug as she pulled out the cup of her coffee and was ready to receive her plate of eggs and sausage. "Getting pretty tired of the same ten or so meal choices and to be honest I have this hankering for sloppy joes."

Buddy paused and looked at the list. They were all food items in question and Buddy sighed in annoyance and set the note aside. "I'll grab these tomorrow while you are doing your rounds," he mumbled and she furrowed her brow at his tone as she sat across from him but didn't argue.

"Two week anniversary tonight," she mumbled as she stabbed at her scrambled eggs. "Anything sadistic planned for me this weekend?" Not getting so much as a raised eyebrow from the man Violet continued. "Because I think I'd like to start taking a crack at your other line of robots. Get a nice change of routine."

"You aren't ready for those yet," Buddy grumbled and Violet smirked leaning closer over the table.

"Wanna bet on that?" She teased. Buddy didn't need to guess where this was going. She'd make her stake for her mom off the table and then it would be her dad if he kept letting her inch forward like this. He had to nip this in the bud.

"It's not like I'd get much out of this gamble, Parr. I'll either end up with a broken sup or some really expensive scrap metal," Buddy muttered before finishing off his coffee. "Which would leave you with either bragging rights or bed rest, so I'll pass."

"Well, what do you want on the table?" Violet asked sitting back upright as he moved away from the table to put his mug in the sink and head off to work. He couldn't help but laugh at the question.

"I don't know if you realize this, Parr, but you aren't exactly in a position to deliver the things I desire," he said with his back still to her.

"You sure about that?" Violet asked pointedly. Buddy felt his wits escape him temporarily. Surely she wasn't aware of this… crush? No. She was just prodding him for something. And it wasn't a crush. He was a grown man for Newton's sake! Yet here he was, like a damn teenager fantasizing about the super.

"Positive," Buddy muttered as he exited the room without looking at her. "I may be a little later than usual tonight. Chamber five today, and you know the drill-"

"Don't cause trouble… Got it," Violet muttered back.

\--

Buddy arrived at DevTech a few minutes later than he normally would and he half expected Winston to be waiting in his office for him. As he opened the door to his private room he heard Winston's door open. He half turned, figuring that Winston heard him come in, but what he didn't expect was Winston to be walking out of his office with Bob and Helen Parr in tow. Thankfully they were engaged with each other and didn't even take notice when Buddy quickly slid through the narrow opening of his door. Remaining pressed against it, both as a security measure and in hopes that he could listen in on the conversation, Buddy wondered how long he could keep up with this streak of close encounters. .

"Rick mentioned something about a missing intern," came the voice of Helen Parr. "It's our only lead at this point, Winston."

"I don't really think I can give you that information guys," Winston said lowly but his tone was clearly stressed. "You know I'd do just about anything to help you two but-"

"Win, this is our daughter we are talking about," came the voice of his hero turned arch-nemesis. "If we lose this kid then we've got nothing else to go on!"

Buddy cursed to himself and abandoned the door to run to his desk. The NSA searching for a nobody was one thing, but Elstagirl would be able to find this kid at a nobody convention! He should have just blasted the kid himself at the handoff but he didn't expect a falling out with his ilk. This morning he had intentions of handling the hit himself after shift but now that the Parr family was on the case he couldn't be within a mile of the punk.

He scrolled through his contacts on his watch to see who was in the area, and more importantly, who was the least likely to backstab him. It was a short list of those available and even shorter of a list of those he could trust to a degree, but those two elements combined, there wasn't a single name he could call on.

Well. There was one name. But he had already blocked it.

"Son of a bitch," Buddy groaned, wanting to slam his head against his desk. He could not catch a break! He knew he was going to regret this but what choice did he have left? Moving from the desk, Buddy called Sardonic who picked up instantly.

"Well, isn't this an honor to be called up by the worst hero who ever lived," Sardonic's voice purred on the other end. "To what do I owe the honor of being called by the man formerly known as Syndrome?"

Buddy was right. He was already regretting this call but hanging up would get him nowhere.

"Do you still want that energy accumulator?" Pine asked. "If so, I got a task for you. Do it right and I'll sweeten the deal." The criminal was silent on the other side of the line longer than he would have liked. Buddy made a mental note to try to install a killer drone into his hovercraft so he would never have to rely on another living being again.

"What's the job?" Sardonic finally answered back and Buddy felt his lip curl up in satisfaction.

"I need you to kill someone. I'll give you the address to where the guy is hiding out. Just make it look like a B and E that went wrong and I'll send off that accumulator along with any other item of your choosing."

"Make it five add ons and we'll have a deal," Sardonic replied. "Word on the street is that Buddy Pine is no longer on good terms with the big league. I just want to make sure that I'm getting well compensated for the trouble of associating with trouble."

In the background, Buddy could hear a faint ding of the elevator. He knew that he had an edge on the supers, but Elastigirl could slingshot herself across the city in a few pulls and Mr. Incredible- well he had physical proof of what he was capable of.

"Fine. I'm sending you the location and a picture of the target. Call me when it's done, and don't fuck up," Buddy muttered and ended the call before Sardonic could try to push the limits anymore.

Buddy stared off into the city skyline, questioning how he got in this mess. He managed to sweep up supers by the dozen over a decade ago and no one batted an eye, but now with one missing it was like everyone was trying to get their grasp on her again. And it wasn't just the 'good guys' either. If Sardonic was aware of his fall from grace then he didn't have to stretch the imagination of what the rest of the criminal underworld was saying about this. There weren't any hits on him yet, but that didn't mean there weren't eyes on him now. Thankfully, he owned a luxury that few in this world could own, his hovercraft which should outrun nearly anything… Save for at least a few supers.

Another thing that was in his favor was his place of work. Oddly enough, DevTech Enterprises was possibly the safest place for him to be other than his own estate. If a villain even so much as tossed a pebble at one of the windows of the building the entire super network would be jumping down the misfortune miscreant before you could recite DevTech's little jingle. An attack on DevTech would be an assault against Winston Deavor, the man who had campaigned harder for the return of superheroes more than any single politician or activist. Only a villain with a death wish would dare try a stunt anywhere that had Winston's name on it. It was a blessing for the supers to have someone so pure in their corner, but that was also Winston's weakness. The man couldn't see trouble even if it was labeled, but that's why he stepped into the picture before anyone else got the idea.

And speak of the devil, Winston let himself into the room, a habit that Buddy no longer minded or at least didn't see the point in pitching a fit over. Turning to face the man he was surprised to see the normally cheerful man looking rather solemn.

"James, I think I messed up," Winston said looking around the room. It was clear he was looking for Apple, but Buddy didn't dare call him out on it.

"What's going on?" Buddy asked, walking to the side of his desk and seated himself upon the edge of it as Winston took to the chair adjacent to him.

"The missing intern, Violet, she's the daughter of some friends of mine and I can't help but feel responsible here," Winston mumbled, at the point of near tears. "She was taken from this building, right underneath my nose! And she wouldn't have been kidnapped if I hadn't asked her to work here in the first place," he said shaking his head before he buried his face into his hands.

Conflicted, Buddy stared at the distraught man. On one hand, he wanted to gloat. Winston had no clue that he had any involvement with the missing person whatsoever. It was laughable at how many people he had dodged this week alone but yet he couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. Winston was without a doubt the most kind-hearted fellow one could ever hope to meet. Even if he was annoying with the sheer amount of optimism he brought to the table, seeing him depressed was, well, depressing.

"Hey, slow down Win, it's not your fault," Buddy said simply. "Listen. I got no idea what the heck is going on with this investigation- I don't know if there is a ransom being demanded, or if there is something more sinister afoot, I only know that I want to help," Buddy said as he removed himself from the edge of the desk and pulled out a checkbook from a desk drawer.

"I'm handing you one million dollars," he said as he quickly wrote out the check and tore it from the book. "I know that it's a lot and at the same time it's nothing at all, but I'm sure this could be spent to help in some way. Give it to the girl's family, start a search campaign for her, store it away for the day that she's found to help with any expenses she'll have," he suggested as he handed Winston the check. "Wherever Violet is, I'm pretty sure she doesn't blame you one bit."

Winston stared at the paper in awe. Buddy was confused at the hesitation from Winston until the man rose from the chair and hugged Buddy tight, he found the affectionate contact to be uncomfortable in several ways but he did not complain.

"You're a really good friend, James," Winston uttered as he broke the hug and Buddy paused at the statement. Friends weren't things he had, and he still didn't see the purpose in having them, but it was nice to hear. Even if it was a lie.

....

"It's done," Sardonic said over the line. "When can I pick up my new toys?" Buddy was, as far as he knew, the only one left in the DevTech tower when Sardonic rang him up.

"Anyone see you?" He asked. Not that it mattered. Buddy planned on using a detonation device in the energy accumulator anyway. He didn't want to leave any loose ends, but he hoped that this would make Violet's missing person case run cold.

"Not a soul in sight," Sardonic replied. "Now about my reward-"

"You'll get the goods when I get confirmation from another source. If you actually did as I asked, you can expect a shipment to arrive on Sunday, just send the order through," Buddy muttered as he observed the city below. It was just a little after 7 pm and the nightlife for the weekend was alive. "If I find out you were lying to me, you'll wish you never answered my call," Buddy warned before hanging and debated whether he should stay until he got confirmation on the kill or not. It was likely that Gerard's murder would be tight-lipped if the NSA got there first so going home was his best option. By normal definition standards, Buddy was winning. He had caught the super, fooled all the right folks and would soon be rid of the key witnesses for the case. He was going to get away with it…

But things still weren't going to plan.

He had not only lost the support of his top investors but had clearly made enemies out of them. There wasn't much that the oil tycoon or land developer could threaten him with, but he could call off all hopes of visiting Japan. There was also the matter of LeBrock who had designed his super suit among other things of his, and of course, the good doctor held more weight than anyone. Aside from the guy being a living snuff producer, Doctor Schmerzen was somewhat responsible for his newfound life. He was the go-to surgeon for villains if they came across a super, or took on a little more damage than expected from local authorities.

His hand held still over the place where a propeller had impaled him. Schmerzen had been the one who pieced him together. It was a bitter reality that Buddy owed his life to the man. He had paid the bill and then some with the man, but some debts could never really be paid off.

Then there was the matter of Violet. He was in deep and seemed to only be digging the hole deeper. It was only two weeks since he had snatched her and he was already fantasizing about her like some lovesick teen. He didn't want to return home, but he knew he had to go back and face himself, prep up Sardonic's 'payment' and prepare for the likelihood of having to move his operations again.

When Buddy made his way inside his home an hour later he found Violet in her usual place, with a book in hand and the dog partially draped over her lap. There was one thing new in this picture. Rather than a mug of tea on the table beside her sat a bottle of a cabernet sauvignon wine and not one but two glasses.

Looking up from her book, Violet offered a smile and Buddy had to question if he was dreaming this. Maybe he fell asleep at his desk?

"I forgot that you said you were going to be late tonight," Violet started as she closed her book as he closed the door. "I didn't take Winston to be a slave driver, but I imagine it was your idea to stay later, huh?" Buddy nodded as he approached her, walking up behind the couch and eyed her with suspicion.

"Are you expecting company?" He asked and she nodded.

"I'm waiting for you," She replied as she reached for the bottle but his hand was faster. He observed the label before looking back to the super, trying to figure out what her endgame was here.

"I could have sworn I heard you say something about not drinking what I had to offer no too long ago," he remarked as Violet got closer to the edge of her seat. "Besides… tomorrow we have work to do."

"Yeah, and your point is?" Violet asked as she took the bottle back from him and reached for the bottle opener. "I'm not aiming to get drunk- I just want to unwind."

"You don't need me to do that," Buddy stated as he watched Violet turn the screw into the cork. She shrugged once before he pulled the cork out in a single fluid motion.

"Maybe not, but socializing is one of the best things one can do for recreation and it would keep me from going insane," Violet replied as she set the skewered cork on the table and poured the wine into the first glass, offering it to him. "If I'm going to be here for the remainder of my life, however long or short that may be, it would be nice to talk to someone who can actually carry a conversation. No offense Apple." Of course the dog paid no mind, but she did give a seemingly sympathetic lick at Violet's elbow.

Buddy stared at the deep purple liquid before he took hold of the glass and nodded. She had a point on the socialization bit. He thought briefly of making reprogramming one of the boys to be more of a companion than a tool but knew she would detest that.

"Fair enough, Parr. What would you like to discuss then? Book club? My progress in making your disappearance permanent?" He taunted as she set the bottle down after pouring herself a full glass.

"Of all the supers to idolize, why did you pick my dad?"

Buddy paused at the question. To say he wasn't expecting it would be an understatement. It was a sucker punch right out of the gates but he should have seen it coming. Thankfully, he could evade the question.

"Oh, speaking of your old man, your parents dropped in to see Winston today actually. I managed to avoid catching their attention… And man, Winston is really distraught with you being taken."

Violet watched as he walked to the leather chair across from her. He smirked at her as he took his seat, but her expression was unwavering. He waited for Violet to ask about the close encounter, watching her as she lifted the glass to her lips and took a sip before casting her gaze back at him again.

"Of all the supers to idolize, why did you pick Mr. Incredible?" Violet reiterated. Buddy shifted his jaw as his free hand undid the top button of his white dress shirt and loosened his tie.

"That was a long time ago," Buddy grumbled before he raised his glass a little higher. "There was no short supply of supers back then, but your dad had more than the other do-gooders. He had charm, all the snappy comebacks, an awesome set of wheels and he just…" Buddy didn't want to think of the rejection. In hindsight, yes, even back then he had taken it a little far, but hell, if he saw any kid making rocket boots or some other crazy functional invention he wouldn't tell them to 'fly home'. He'd be investing in that kid, mentor that raw potential. "He was a really good showman." Buddy finished.

Violet nodded as she folded her legs pretzel style beneath her as she contemplated the answer as well as a follow-up question. She knew he was holding out on her. The pause he made. She could hear one of her professors urging her to dig deeper but knowing how short the man's fuse was Violet opted to switch gears, get his guard down and maybe return to the question.

"So your old man did talk about me then," Buddy asked and Violet quickly nodded.

"Only once or twice," Violet admitted. If he was asking questions on the topic of her father that was a relatively good sign she could stay in that arena a little longer. "He obviously doesn't hold you in high regard but he does regret not being nicer to you." Violet said as she moved to take another sip but the man leaned forward in the conversation.

"He actually said that?"

"Well not in those exact words. We had a short family meeting on you in the back of a van," Violet said as she swirled the liquid in her glass. "When you attempted to kidnap Jack-Jack, you mentioned wanting to be a good mentor, make him your side-kick or whatever," Violet said recalling the first ride to the motel they were camping out in for a couple of months. "Dad said that you were a little more eager than the rest of the kids at the fan fairs. Also that you also nearly got yourself killed by Bomb Voyage."

Buddy nodded at the memory of the night that he had tailed Mr. Incredible. It took the recovery from surviving from an intentional kill from Mr. Incredible to realize that he had saved him from a similar fate years prior.

"Bet he wished he left that explosive on my cape, huh?" Buddy asked as he looked into the dark wine

Violet didn't know the answer to the question but her silence was telling enough. Chances were, yeah, Mr. Incredible would have turned back the clock on that little rescue gone wrong. Had he stayed put then that train lawsuit may not have gone through- but truthfully the super ban was a time bomb waiting to go off.

Prying his eyes from the glass in his hand and back to the woman Buddy offered a half-smile before looking away again.

"Once upon a time, I would have given anything to have what you got. I have an idea of why you stopped doing the super gig full-time," he paused seeing Violet's expression shift towards distress and he held up a hand to keep her in the present conversation. "But why do you think becoming a cop or whatever your criminal degree would change anything?" He asked sitting forward. "I mean, the years that your kind had to keep your gifts hidden is proof of that enough isn't it?"

Violet shook her head as she shifted to sit on her knees and set her nearly empty glass on the table beside her. He was a little surprised to watch her top off the glass but he said nothing as she took another drink. Two weeks wasn't long to sober up, but it was clear that the wine was getting to her head by her body language alone.

"It doesn't matter, super ban or not, what does matter is how we as a society handle our justice system," Violet said as a finger traced the rim of the glass. "Crime increased slightly after the ban because of the 'hey, who's gonna stop us now?' mentality, but the showdowns stopped for the most part and public funds were funneled into law enforcement mostly. We are living in a police state essentially but that hasn't deterred crime. But you know what is the number one thing that keeps folks out of criminal careers?" When Buddy shook his head Violet smiled brightly. "Education. Yet over the decades, we've been slashing at the education budgets, limiting work placement opportunity programs, and making tuition prices impossible to pay off! Crime has in a sense gone down in the last decade, but the petty stuff? Drug deals, muggings and the like? That's skyrocketed- and if it comes down to stopping a bomb going off in town hall or chasing down a common thief, which one am I supposed to stop?" Violet asked before taking a gulp of wine.

"I don't want to be a cop, and I don't want to be a super either. I pursued the degree so that way I could get into policy, get some real reform into play, push to end criminalization for drug use like some of the Norweigian countries, and set up rehab centers, community colleges and employment centers rather than build one more prison in this country," she said mumbled. "Not that there isn't a need for the institution as a whole, but that is a whole other conversation in itself- but if we can provide better means for living. Purpose, opportunity, and hell, just some relief it could make everything more bearable for the average person you know?"

Buddy stared at the woman incredulously and she stared back in waiting. Silence filled the room, save for the faint panting of Apple who at some point in Violet's rant had moved from the couch and down to the floor. And then Buddy did a regrettable thing. He laughed. It was a light chuckle but it held mockery in it and Violet narrowed her gaze on him.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing," Buddy replied as he cocked his head to the side, a grin on his face. "I just never pictured Mr. Incredible raising a social justice warrior is all. Or really any super having sympathy for the little guys," Buddy said with a shrug, his blue eyes piercing her as his lips tugged back a little more to show off his teeth. "It's adorable."

Violet's face went red and the man couldn't help but widen his grin. He polished off his glass of wine and set it aside, never taking his eyes off of the woman. He was sure she'd throw a fit, she looked furious after all but instead, she abandoned her seat, taking her wine glass and the dog with her without saying goodnight.

Victorious in this battle Buddy watched her ascend the staircase and gave her a wave. "See you at zero eight, Parr," he called and Violet responded by flipping him off. He grinned as he shook his head and checked his watch to see what time it was, but he was thrown off by a flood of messages from several folks. He had a few from Sardonic. The man was clearly eager to collect. There was an email from Winston on his alias account, a brief 'thanks for being a good friend' email. Some potential buyer inquiries as well as a confirmed payment for a droid commission. And then there was a single message from LeBrock that urged him to reconsider handing Violet over.

He left all the messages on read with the intention of getting back to them tomorrow, save for Sardonic's. He wanted to get rid of the guy as early as humanly possible.

\--

As she walked down the hall Violet threw back what was left of her glass and set it upon the writing desk. Stepping into the bathroom she stared at her semi disheveled image in the mirror and closed her eyes.

She had set out on weakening his defenses. Lowering his guard and getting him to gain her trust, and what did she end up with instead?

Syndrome mocking her, edging on bringing up Tony as well as her parents searching for her… him calling her adorable.

Turning on the faucet, Violet quickly splashed her face with cold water. She hated him. He was a smug ass who's entire existence was currently staked upon making sure everyone other than him was losing some way or another. She threw up more water upon her face and soaked the strands of her hair hanging by the side of head and the front of her shirt.

He murdered several dozen supers, attempted to kill most of her family, herself included. He was a few henchmen short of being considered a criminal kingpin and she couldn't leave out that he had kidnapped her. She was furious with him but more than that she was pissed with herself. Because she found herself flustered with him.

Unfortunately, these feelings were around before she had her first glass of wine. They were just much easier to throw off this past week because he wasn't giving her much mind. He was still present in the mornings as well as when he got home from his day job, but his attention wasn't on her. Not like how it was last weekend. When he had praised her abilities, placed his hands on her shoulders…

She was touch starved, that much was obvious. She had denied herself of relationships for years and there was no doubt that having no one other than him to interact with now had something to do with the feelings she was catching.

Why did she think drinking with him was a good idea? She planned on getting him drunk enough to let a little loose. Maybe even shit faced enough to get her to grab his watch. She was so close last Monday too. She had her hand on it too! If only her hair hadn't gotten in the way and stirred him. When he asked her what she was doing she panicked, but upon finding that he was dreaming, or moreso having a nightmare about her, she was both flattered and upset. She had essentially foiled herself on that screw up.

She had the training and knowledge to not fall susceptible to Stockholm syndrome and here she was, feeling frustrated because she enjoyed that snarky jerk. She liked that he was playing with her and most infuriating of all discovered that she found certain qualities of his to be attractive.

Drying her face and brushing her teeth, Violet headed to bed for the night but silently swore that tomorrow she would get underneath his skin. The trying to be friends tactic would not work, not for him. She clearly could not hold one over on Winston either now as she was not immune to his charm it seemed.


	14. Stiff Skin

Rick Dicker walked into the scene of the crime that Bob and Helen had tipped him off to. He was disappointed, not so much that the parents went against the better judgment to keep out of the investigation but because he hadn't urged the office to get in on the search earlier. One day could have made all the difference it seemed. 

Entering the uptown loft, Dicker's eyes trailed the floor, clear evidence of a struggle, and blood was spilled and in the kitchen, the 25-year-old suspect was face down. Dead as a doornail. 

"This doesn't make any sense," Helen whispered shaking her head. She and Bob were both in their super suits, standing a few feet away. "If he had Violet here, there isn't any sign of her… and supposing she was here, supposing she did do this-"

"Violet didn't kill the kid," Rick replied gruffly. "And I don't think the kid had Violet here either." He had only just walked into the place but there was no way in hell that this kid could contain a super for more than a night. Besides, according to the landlord, Gerard had just moved in last week. "How the hell does a guy making 15 bucks an hour afford a place like this?"

"Well if his parents are footing the bill-" Mr. Incredible suggested but Rick shook his head. 

"Parents aren't supporting him, but someone was," the NSA agent theorized as he observed the wounds on Gerard. Forensics would hopefully paint a more clear picture but he wasn't optimistic on getting any leads or prints. "My guess as of now. If I'm going to be honest, my guess is that the kid was the middleman here and someone wanted to cut ties. Permanently," Rick stated as he rose to his full height again. 

"Rick, who the hell has Violet?" Bob asked as Helen took hold of his hand. 

"I'm not sure. Maybe someone who has a grudge against your daughter specifically since a ransom hasn't been issued out," Rick said as he rubbed the back of his neck. It was looking worse for Violet each day. "I'll run a list of potential villains who Violet has interacted with and go from there."

"It can't be that long of a list," Elastigirl started. "Violet hasn't been active in a while. Right?"

"Not that we know of but nothing about this case makes sense so we can't leave anything to chance… I’ll have a team look into every possible scenario. Old rivals, networks from folks she busted, the fan letters. Everything.” Rick said as he walked away from the kitchen and towards the parents. Why don't you two try to get some sleep? I'll reach out when I have something to go on." 

\--

Buddy growled as he watched Violet make her signature saw blade with the scraps from the boys she destroyed and take out the last remaining POD. His finger jammed onto the intercom as he stood up from his chair and leaned into the microphone for the conversation he was about to have. 

"Parr, you are killing me with this technique of yours. Can't you show off something else? Something new?" He asked as he watched the super sit down in the mess she made and shrugged him off.

"It's not my fault you haven't made your mass-market lines able to evolve," she called picking up flakes of metal and tossing them at distant targets around the room. "And if I keep beating them like this, I think it's you who has to come up with some new material."

Buddy wasn't sure if the woman was trying to make a pun but he laughed. Not out of entertainment but frustration. Come up with new material? Graphene was the strongest stuff on earth, and some of the most expensive but she kept going through it like it was paper mache!

"I'm going to level with you, Parr. This was a neat trick the first few times, but I can't be producing power blades like this to my clients-" he said zooming in on the lone POD remains. "Do you see that test dummy behind you? That is supposed to be an ambassador, a president, someone of high worth and you just split them in half, making the dream hostage scenario impossible!"

Violet turned her head over her shoulder to look at the plastic corpse and rolled her eyes before finding another camera to look at. She might not be able to see Syndrome but she hoped that her eye contact would irritate him more. 

"Well I'm sorry, I guess your clients are just going to have to figure something out on their own," Violet said as she rested back on her elbows now looking like she didn't have a care in the world. Cleaning her fingernails with a shard of metal. "It's too bad you can't just sell me to one of your evil associates, huh."

Buddy swallowed at the thought. Did she somehow manifest telepathy powers overnight? He wouldn’t put it past her given that her youngest brother was a vending machine of powers. Regardless of any newly born powers she may or may not possess, she would catch a heavy sum of money, that was for damn sure. The black market's highest-priced item in the last two years weren't his weapons, it was people, and as far as he knew, no super had been placed on the market yet- but if she were on the floor, she would probably break the bank. She wasn’t even for sale and LeBrock still had blown up his phone while he slept, each voicemail and message was him essentially bidding against himself. He meant to contact him at some point today but maybe radio silence would be more direct. He wasn’t going to just hand over Violet for a quick buck though it would be one way to solve his internal dilemma however.

"Trust me, Parr, you wouldn't want that." He mumbled looking at his watch. She had gone through six chambers today, and it being 1700 hours on a Saturday night he would like to get some design drafts done, maybe tune up some of the production bots as well as figure out some drills for her to complete throughout the workweek. "Look just head on up, we're done for the day, but tomorrow I expect something new from you."

Violet didn't need to be told twice to retire but she didn't want to let the topic slide off either. She couldn’t say for sure, but she knew she had hit a sore spot for sure and while she had agreed to not do any more physical damage to his operations she would still try to find a way to be the sand in his gears. 

"I think I'd make a better villain than you," she taunted. "I mean if I can do this to the equipment you deal with your innocent clients I can only imagine the crap you give the bad guys. Maybe I could test them out, or better yet you could put me out on loan so I can show everyone how to really get work done," she suggested. If he bought up the idea she might be able to pull a fast one on someone lower tier, or better yet screw up and let the NSA take her in. She waited for his response but she was only met with silence. She opened her mouth to speak again when the doors of the locker room opened and Syndrome stood in the entryway with his arms crossed.

"You think you are being funny, but you've got no idea what you are talking about," he said stepping into the room. "Your powers could certainly be used for evil- that I have no doubt, and while someone like Mesmira or a Screenslaver copycat could use you they could not afford you."

"Well, who could?" Violet asked as she took up a defensive stance, catching that the device that blocked her powers was not currently active. Was he testing her or was this a fluke on his part? 

"Please, get out of my head,” he muttered as he looked to the ceiling.

“What?” 

“Nobody you want to know," he said quickly as he walked past her with his hands in his pockets. Defenseless for the moment, but Violet remained still. 

"But you do?" Violet inquired as she got to her feet.

"I'm a businessman, half of my job is knowing people. Who they are, what they have, … what they want." He said looking over his shoulder briefly before looking at the split test dummy, fully aware she could do that to him right now if she really wanted to. "What do you know about tigers?" 

"Tigers? Like… the animal or the super?" Violet asked and Buddy had to stop himself briefly. There was a super in India who picked up the name Tigress. She was a force to reckon with as well- made mincemeat out of some of the attack droids he had sold to Julian Watts a while back. 

"The animal," he stated. "They weigh up to 6000 pounds of pure muscle, have massive claws and fangs to match, yet they're the ones endangered in the wild. In captivity however they are bred by the boatload," he said turning back to face the woman. "There are people in this world who would pay through the nose to just be in the same room as one of your kind. And of the ones who could afford a personal meet and greet would want their money's worth- and I'm not talking about autographs or photo ops- but to own you like some sort of exotic pet."

"Oh dear, and how terrible that life must be compared to a lab rat," Violet mocked and raised her right hand to show off the bracelet as she placed it over her forehead. "Is that what these things are intended to do? Make supers the new fad pet?" Violet asked, narrowing her gaze. “If so that’s really SAD.”

The man laughed. Yet another pun from the woman, using the acronym of his invention. It was remarkable how on the nose she was with his current predicament in spite of being in the dark. 

“At last, we can agree on something,” he said before sitting on top of the corpse of a destroyed POD. "I had other intentions for the device but my investors and I had a difference of opinions," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Had a nice chat with them last week about it actually."

"So they know it works. They know that you've got me," Violet questioned and Syndrome nodded. 

"A few folks do. Yeah," he said leaning forward, his expression a little grimmer. "And they were all interested buyers." 

"Well there you go, you've got your supply and demand- I really don’t get what’s stopping you from going ahead with your stupid bracelets or whatever.” Violet frowned hearing Syndrome chuckle again. 

“Oh, you misunderstand me, Parr. They don’t give a damn about that. SAD isn’t the product they are after. It’s you.” He said meeting her eyes again and they just stared back in confusion. “And I wish I could say that they were interested in using you like the weapon that you are but that wasn’t the case.”

“What are you talking about?” Violet asked. The question infuriated the man. 

“Are you really that naive?!” He shouted getting to his feet. “I mean, I know you are, you took a drink from some kid you barely know and ended up here because of it. How you got to be so goddamn trusting is beyond me but this is just incredible, to say the least,” he said slicking a hand back through his hair as he approached her again. “I know you can piece it together, Parr, you accused me of something along these lines before.”

Violet shook her head in confusion. She got the picture loud and clear now, but she was still not following.

“I don’t understand… And before you yell at me again, I get it. Sexual harassment and all that jazz,” She said rubbing her arm becoming uncomfortable with the conversation topic. “But why would they want… me?” She asked in confusion. “I’m sure they could get a trophy wife for a lot less, a lot prettier and less problematic too,” She said moving to lean back against the toughened glass wall. 

Buddy nodded in agreement. How right she was on that.

“When you have more money than God, you just start buying shit just because you can,” he said with a shrug. He had some experience with impulsive buys but it still remained within the realm of necessities. “Things, experiences, places, bigger things… people too I guess,” Buddy stated as Violet bit her lip at the thought and observed the device on her wrist.

“So. What now? Are you going to sell me to some other psycho? Get these things out on the market for other rich assholes to own their own heroes?” Violet asked, clenching her fists. She could end it all here and now. Chances were Syndrome had some failsafe planted in the joint but she wasn’t going to let some rich bastard-

“It’s business as usual, Parr. I ended the project,” he said simply, Violet’s jaw dropping slightly at the comment and he shrugged. “It’s probably for the best anyway. Now that I think of it, having something that could make a super stop being super… well it would really kill that arms race of mine. Terrible for business.”

Violet’s entire frame relaxed at the casualness he was displaying. She didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him, but there was no real benefit for him to lie about something like this, was there? There was only one way to really confirm he was serious, at least on the part of discontinuing his SAD project.

“... Can I destroy them? The devices that you have?”

Pine paused at the request and shook his head. 

“No, you can’t,” he said, taking stock of the disappointment on her face. “Because of the fact you are wearing the only model in line. However, you can delete the files and blueprints on them,” he said as he tapped at his watch, lifting Violet’s ban on the production floor. Turning his back to her he made it into the locker room when he realized that Violet was still frozen where she stood. “Are you waiting for a formal invitation? Because this is it.”

Violet followed behind Syndrome closely as they walked down the production line. All the robots tinkering away at whatever machinery they were assigned to. 

"Do you ever turn them off?" She asked.

"Sometimes," he replied, looking over the rows of autonomous workers as they walked. "Running around the clock guarantees malfunctions and wear down to occur so I have them operate in shifts," he said as he opened the door to the digital lab, letting her step in first and he followed behind leaving the door open. 

Violet eyed the tech with interest as Syndrome took a seat and began to sort through the digital files before displaying the folder that contained the gear in question.

SAD_842

"Eight hundred forty two?" Violet asked moving closer to the screen. 

"Eh, it's just the number of designs I have," he said. "Or at least the number of designs that made it onto the hardware phase," a shrug following as he turned the chair around and got up again, offering the seat to her. Sliding into the seat, Violet allowed him to turn and push the chair back into the desk. He leaned in close over her shoulder and took hold of the mouse at his desk. "Now, you can just-"

"Why are you doing this?" Violet asked looking up over her shoulder at him and his head sank at the question, His forehead nearly resting on her shoulder

"Parr, we just went over this," he muttered but Violet shook her head and turned around in the chair her arms draped over the back of the chair. 

"Bad for business, I get that, I do. But this isn't business, this feels more like charity to me," Violet said resting her chin on one of her arms. "You keep talking about business and money and so on but this feels a little more… personal." 

Their eyes met, briefly, and Syndrome took in a deep breath. 

"Isn't it your job to foil evil plans?" He asked and she gave a nod. "Right, so why bother asking? Just click it and you'll be the only super to be wearing my limited edition anti-super gear!" 

"Yeah, but why? I mean if you are such a villain why are you letting me do this? Why not go forward with it, why not pawn me off to your league of deplorable men?" Violet asked raising her voice and Syndrome pulled himself away from the chair. 

"Oh ho ho, so you would prefer me to just sell you off to some cretin? Hmm? Because I could arrange that if you want, you just let me know off of the list of potential buyers you would rather spend your time with- a french fashion designer, an oil tycoon, Yakuza, or how about a sadistic genius who is one coup away from being a dictator. Personally, that would be my last choice but clearly you are just a glutton for bad times!" 

Violet turned back around in the chair, her arms folded tight against her chest as she glared at the screen, muttering something under her breath.

"What was that, Parr? I can't hear you," Syndrome snapped from the other side of the room. 

"I said I think you are a lousy villain," she shot back. "Almost as bad as when you were masquerading as a hero."

Syndrome crossed the room and spun the chair around again and placed a firm grip on the armrests. Pulling the chair close, the pair were face to face again, eyes searing into each other.

"You are treading on thin ice, Parr. I've killed at least 37 supers, remember? I've got criminal operations going on from here all the way out to Figi, got you going against killing machines every day and could shut off your powers at any moment. I could kill your family at almost any moment, take out your entire graduating class with a few calls. Eliminate every person you so much as smiled at... Do you really want to push your luck with me?"

Violet furrowed her brow and leaned closer, mere inches separating the two. 

"You've never taken a life," Violet stated firmly, shock went through his eyes briefly but he sought back the discipline as she continued. "You've made things to do that for you, hired people to do that for you. You just press a button and it happens. You don’t have to dirty your own hands."

"Oh, and I suppose you know something about killing. Being a hero and all," he sneered back. "What does it matter anyway, whether I pull the trigger or build the trigger I'm still an agent of violence, am I not? What's your angle on this anyway? I'm handing you over a small victory and you are just spitting it back in my face!"

"I do know something about ending a life actually, which is why I think you aren't the big bad man you make yourself out to be," Violet said. "I think-

"I think you are just conflating this act with whatever little fantasy you've got in your head," Syndrome interjected quickly as he pulled the chair to the side to gain access to the computer again and closed out the blueprints, saving the information from termination. "Satisfied? Or should I start producing a few? Maybe send a few home to the family as a little surprise gift with DevTech slapped on the side of them. They'd buy that right?"

"I think there is a part of you that still wants to feel like the good guy!" Violet shouted standing up. “

"Alright, four new Super Antidote Devices, coming up!" He said turning back to the computer to send the order to a bot on the production line. 

"And I don't think you actually enjoy working with scum like Sardonic, or rich mogul assholes- If you did you could do that full time! You could make way more money just focusing on the dark money but you did that stupid merger by the books. Your company makes its money off of defense contracts, millions in revenue each quarter, what your stupid front doesn't advertise is how much cash Kronos Incorporated's foundation pours into medical research,” Violet shouted in frustration. So much of that damn intern work she spent weeks on would be embedded in her brain but the list of charities and goodwill giving programs that Kronos was a part of was the only stack of papers that didn’t want to make her jump off the roof of DevTech. Granted the company was owned by the egotistical asshole before her, but as far as she could tell he was the one making all of the decisions, he was the one who consciously decided that whatever revenue the corporation made, after all the base operation fees were met, two-thirds of the profits would go right into the charities. “Technology that's adding years of survival to terminal patients, providing treatment to kids with cancer for free, skin graphs and prosthetics to military service members," Violet stated as she closed the distance Syndrome had created between them again.

"I make my money with my ilk. Everything with Kronos, it's for tax purposes and bragging rights, nothing more than that, super. Corporations aren’t your friend nor saviors, isn’t that right Miss SJW?" Syndrome replied with his eyes on the screen. He had yet to send the SAD order, but all it would take would be him hitting the enter key. Violet shook her head in disbelief. 

"I think if you allowed yourself to actually pursue one side of the chessboard, you'd blow away the competition," Violet said placing a hand over the one that hovered over the keyboard, he went tense upon contact. "You're not playing the middle man because it's fun. You're playing it because you are scared."

Syndrome let out a husky chuckle, his eyes meeting hers again. 

"And what could I possibly be scared of?" 

"I haven't figured that part out yet," Violet answered. "But if I were to guess, I'd say you’re scared of failure most likely. Or maybe you're scared of getting hurt. Tried being a hero with my pop and you got rejected so you went full-scale psycho bad guy and ended up in a turbine,” Violet said with a smirk. “Keeping your morals somewhere in the middle, well, you get to fuck over everyone and remain unfucked yourself, right?” 

“You truly have no idea what you are talking about,” Syndrome said as he pulled his hand away from her gentle hold. 

“Then prove it, tough guy,” Violet shot back. “If you are really such a villain, hit me with your best shot.” Her powers were still accessible. All she wanted was a raised fist and then she could justify her move. Take him down in the heart of his sanctum. 

The two were still as the seconds that passed felt like hours. Violet waited for Syndrome to make his move, and he waited for her to leave. Leave before he did something stupid. Leave before-

He kissed her. 


	15. Burning Mouth

Violet's eyes widened at the kiss. It was unexpected to say the least. 

Had someone told her that she would be kissed by the man who terrorized her family, she would have called them crazy. And had someone told her she would kiss him back, she would have responded that only if she was crazy. 

Yet that was what she was doing right now. 

What Syndrome had started out from a misguided impulse Violet fueled it with an animalistic want. Unfurled desire for human contact. Her hands gripped his light blue button-up shirt just beneath the collar to pull him closer to her. She knew this was bad, there wasn’t a single redeeming portion to this mess, but villain or not, she needed this.

  
  


'What the hell have I done?' should have been the question on Buddy Pine's mind, but now he was wondering how Violet Parr, Invisi-girl, the daughter of Mr. Incredible himself, had not knocked his lights out. How the heck it was that instead of using him as a punching bag she was kissing him and then of course there was the most urgent question of all: why the hell it had to be him to put the brakes on the situation.

"Parr, wait, just hold up for a second," he mumbled between their locked lips. "I didn't- I mean I shouldn't have-"

"Can't finish what you started?" The super taunted breathlessly, making Buddy Pine tense more as the kiss was fully broken. 

Buddy held her back at about half an arm’s length away from him. His eyes were on the floor as he caught his breath. He needed to step away from this now before it went too far, but that line in the sand was well behind him. Christ, he had just ridiculed several former associates last week on pulling this kind of shit did he not?.

'It's basic human biology,' he assured himself mentally. 'You acted on impulse, she responded out of biological imprints,' he continued as he raised his gaze up to Violet's eyes once more. Those damn midnight blue eyes. His hands gripping her arms tightly and while he needed to release her, he wanted to pull her closer. 

"Fuck," he breathed and she smirked in response.

"That's the idea, yeah," Violet growled back, prompting him to cross the line in the sand again.

Moving his hands to her hips, Buddy moved Violet to the side so that her back was to the monitor. He leaned into her, a hand left her hip and was now cupping the back of her head as he kissed her with force. Violet's own hands had their own objective, quickly undoing the belt buckle and Buddy found himself breaking the kiss again. 

"Woah there, have you ever heard of foreplay?" He asked as Violet removed her hands from his waistline and to the desk behind her. Hoisting herself up onto the top of the workspace she pushed him away suddenly and Buddy rolled with the blow, figuring his dumb mouth had not only started this act but ended it too. However, Violet only pushed him away to have space to pull her sweater over her head, revealing the sports bra she wore beneath it. Tossing the article of clothing aside, Violet looked at him expectantly and Buddy remained still as stone.

"Well, Mr. Foreplay, what are you waiting for? Or did you want to go back to business as usual?" She asked, frustrating Buddy to the end of his rope and he was right back on her. Right where they last left off as Violet's hands were now undoing the buttons of his shirt. He had an undershirt to cover his scars, but he wasn’t squirmish about showing off the wounds of his survival- additionally, if the woman who was undressing him was more concerned about his physical appearance but paid no real heed to everything that led up to this carnal affair, her priorities in a physical relationship would be questionable. Or more questionable than it already was.

Once the buttons were undone, Buddy ripped the dress shirt off from his frame, his mouth never leaving the supers for more than a millisecond. Her hands had moved to his hair, running her fingers across his scalp before grabbing a fist full of his locks as his hands settled on her hips again. Violet pulled her mouth away but the man continued to follow her lips to bring her back in. Finding that she was not going to willingly offer her mouth he turned his attention to her exposed neckline, quickly discovering that it was a sensitive area for the super as she released a gasp. 

"Ooh, can we get you to make that sound again?" He purred and the woman opened her mouth to object but he pulled away from her and the hands that rested upon her hips quickly removed the sweatpants from her legs entirely, leaving Violet only in her underwear with her socks and shoes still on. 

With some distance placed between them again, the pair began to size one another up. Buddy's eyes wandered but Violet's eyes landed on his still covered chest, observing the scarred tissue beneath his thin shirt. She didn't need to ask how he got them, but she found herself finally questioning how he survived. She would have to ask him another time as now she only had one thing on her mind. 

Still seated on the desk, Violet spread her legs to display her still covered womanhood to him and leaned back, eyeing him with desire. 

"Are you waiting for an invitation? Violet asked as one of her hands treaded dangerously close to the seam of her underwear.

Buddy licked his lips, more than happy to crash the party before him. His hands could have landed anywhere, there was a decent amount of real estate that laid bare but he insisted on cupping her face with both hands as he kissed her again and again as Violet's hands returned to his waist line to undo the rest of his pants. 

She was going to fuck him with reckless abandon, Violet confirmed mentally, knowing she'd have to suffer the consequences once the deed was done. She could handle the gloating and if there was ever a way out of this prison she was confident she could carry this night to her grave. Since the pier, she deprived herself of anything that was more than a few second hug. It was just sex- and they were both clearly game for it. She didn't even pull the slacks down before she began to feel his sex through his boxer briefs. 

He sucked in a breath as she felt him. He had a few women after Mirage, but all of them were paid for in some form or another, but this was authentic. Or at least as authentic as a hostage scenario could get, but above all else it was taboo. He was a villain, she was a hero and not just any hero. The daughter of his former idol and greatest riv-... Second greatest rival. Mr. Incredible had nothing on the woman who quite literally had in the palm of her hand. 

Before the dance they were playing could go any further the monitors began flashing behind Violet, signaling an incoming transmission, and unlike the calls that he received on his watch or landline, the video calls were nonnegotiable due to the programming. There were only three options; cancel the call which would inform the other party that he was in the vicinity, answer and hope it would be a quick and painless chat or they could enjoy the ambiance of the flashing lights low pitched siren while they got to know each other in the biblical sense. 

Seeing the name John Pierce LeBrock in bold lettering Buddy cursed the man under his breath. Of all the times to try him again the French bastard would ruin his evening now! Buddy quickly traded the sweatpants Violet had worn moments ago for the dress shirt he had discarded moments prior.

"I need you to hide, can you do that invisible thing?” Buddy asked quickly as he pulled her down from the desk and hastily began to make himself decent for the camera. When she stared back at him with a vacant expression he motioned his hands like a magician would in an act to make something disappear, earning a look of irritation because of it.

“Oh. You want to try that? Okay, let's,” Violet muttered allowing her powers to transmute her skin, but the clothes were still very visible.

“Oh-”

“Yeah, oh! And why the hell is 'Steal their look' LeBrock calling you? Wait... Is LeBrock the fashion designer who wanted to buy me?!” Violet snapped and while he couldn’t see her expression he could feel her eyes burning a hole into his skull. 

“I’m sorry, just- get under the desk for now, okay?” Buddy pleaded, taking a side step. Violet turned herself visible again as she picked up her own discarded clothes and sunk underneath the desk. The chair he normally sat in was pushed out of the frame of his camera, but standing might be the better way to respond to LeBrock given that sitting down would prove to have some discomfort. Taking in a deep breath, Buddy answered the call with a tap of a key and eyed the screen ahead of him where a rather relaxed Lebrock sat with a glass of red wine and a robe that matched the drink in hand. 

“Good evening, Missur Pine, I hope you and I are still on mutual terms following the events of last week,” the gaunt fashion designer spoke as he swirled the contents of his glass. Buddy’s eyes traveled down, focusing on Violet who was giving him a look of accusation and he shook his head returning his gaze to the screens. "You haven't been responding to my calls."

“LeBrock, isn’t it like 3 in the morning for you right now?” Buddy retorted, knowing that this call was most likely killing his opportunity to get to third base with the super that was hiding below. “What the hell do you want?”

“Pine, the technical workers and fashion geniuses are not so different! You should know that I live on coffee and don’t leave bed before noon! But yes, let us speak, how do you say, frankly? I still wish to purchase that super of yours, Invisi-girl I believe her name is.”

Buddy grimaced as he felt a light jab at one of his shins and gave a look of warning to Violet before shaking his head again. “Listen LeBrock, I’m not selling the super, okay? Your models are practically invisible as it is, I really don’t get why you-”

“Ah yes, yes, yes, but after you so rudely ended our call last night, myself and Doctor Schmerzen had a private chat of this super- I don’t necessarily require the girl, only the genes that she possesses and our good Doctor friend has assured me that he can extract her abilities and replicate them for my models- But that requires me getting her to him, so tell me what number would make you change your mind,” LeBrock asked. 

“For the hundredth time, John, I’m not selling. Do I need to hire a translator for you and the Doc to get that point across?”

“Misure Pine, I do hope that you would be willing to reconsider. We would hate for anything to happen to your reputation as an upstanding citizen,” LeBrock threatened subtly, but it did not go unnoticed. LeBrock and Doctor Schmerzen were both known for their criminal deeds, the rest of the band were operating underneath a limited veil. 

“That is against the rules, my friend,” Buddy said, his voice wavering on the edge of anger. "I would greatly appreciate you not threatening my operations, unless you want this to go very south very quickly."

Unphased by the escalation of threat raised by Pine, LeBrock took a sip of his wine before setting the glass aside and peered directly into the camera. 

"I'm sure this is some sort of agreement we can come to that doesn't involve blackmail or bloodshed so I raise you with this prompt. Invite the Doctor in so he can conduct his work with you there. I get my invisible models, Schmerzenis able to conduct his research and you can hang onto that trophy of yours! We didn't realize who she was to you, Mademoiselle Invisible, daughter of Mr. Incredible! Oh it's poetic how sinister you are, keeping her hostage, doing who knows what to her! You should have let us know that you have a long game in mind!"

"It's not like that," Buddy quickly defended. His eyes were on LeBrock but he was speaking to Violet. "I never had any plans to do anything to the super beyond advancing my work and keeping her under my thumb," Buddy stated plainly and LeBrock laughed in response. 

"Oh you don't expect us to believe that do you? Well if that is the case you shouldn't mind us taking her off of your hands once she has outlived her use for you, right. I don't see you as a catch and release sort of man, and killing something so valuable is a waste, isn't it?" 

Buddy felt his mouth go dry. There was no right answer here. Even if he went with the 'I haven't thought that far ahead' reel, it would be debunked instantly. All he did was think. He would think of hundreds of ways to solve a single problem and while he had no problem with discarding human life, he regrettably had caught feelings for the woman he was hiding. It was going to be messy regardless, and the original game plan was easier to tell. There wasn't anything else to tell.

"I drive things into the ground, LeBrock. I don't fix them if they lose value and I certainly don't run a charity here," Buddy said firmly. "I improve it by starting from scratch, armed with what I know and with that said, I'm not sure when the super will stop providing value to my operations, but rest assured that she's going to be useful to my work right up to her last breath."

LeBrock observed the screen with a look of skepticism was apparent but the man had no evidence to call him out on him. Giving a shrug, the fashion designer took up his wine glass again before clearing his throat. "I'll let you off for the moment, Pine, but we'll talk soon," LeBrock stated before cutting off the communication. 

A little over a decade ago, Buddy would have assumed he could pick up right where he left off. Then Mirage painfully proved that hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn. 

"Violet," Buddy began as he took a step back away from the desk. His posture already going into a defensive stance. "I can explain."

A forcefield blew Buddy back several feet, and the landing wasn't soft. He had briefly forgotten that he left her powers on. His mind was elsewhere as the night was heading in an entirely different direction until Cock Block LeBrock called in.

He rolled over to his side and moved to correct the human error but Violet was ahead of him, and she had his hands pinned to the floor, not with her own hands but with her force fields in the form of circlets cuffing him to the floor. He didn't know she could do that and it proved that there was still so much untapped potential in the woman. Looking back to Violet his eyes widened as she looked dark. Foreboding and grim as she approached him. 

"Make use of me until my very last breath, huh?" Violet asked as she knelt down beside him, her eyes focused on the wrist that wore the watch. "Christ I'm such an idiot! You were literally going to use me every way possible," she muttered as she removed the watch and began to swipe through the settings, searching for the release from the device on her own wrist. Even as her attention was elsewhere, her force fields remained intact. If he wasn't on the wrong end of the current power dynamic, Buddy would have been absolutely thrilled to see that level of command over her powers. She had either come a long way in the past two weeks, or her abilities heightened with her emotions. 

Either way, it didn't bode well for him.

"It's not like that, okay? It was never like that! Can we just take a second to talk about this?" Buddy asked as Violet had found the application for the S.A.D. and successfully shut it down, the bracelet that served as his way to control her was offline and off her wrist. 

"And how is it, Syndrome?" Violet tested. The use of his alter ego was not in his favor at all. "What is the master plan? Because I think I should get a refresher seeing that I failed to see this sick scenario, yet you've displayed this in front of me all this time, haven't you? Hell, you were talking me out of seeing you as a person before you-..." 

Violet was enraged. He had kissed her. They were arguing and he had kissed her and she responded in kind and she was more than willing to take it all the way.

"Violet, I understand why you are angry, but I didn't intend on taking this here," Buddy confessed, remaining as still as possible. If Violet decided to turn the cuffs on his wrists to razors he would bleed out in minutes. "I honestly only intended to keep you on for research purposes. What just happened was-"

"A mistake," Violet finished for him. "I'm glad that you seem to be back in good graces with your League of Evil Perverts or whatever," Violet growled as she walked away, picking up the discarded hoodie and sweatpants from the floor and put them on again. "I was just a notch in your belt, did you fuck any of the supers on Nomanisa before you threw them away or am I a special case on account of dad?"

"This has nothing to do with your father," Buddy stated and Violet laughed.

"It has everything to do with my dad, you only kidnapped me to hold one over on him again. And you wanted to sweeten the deal by getting me to sleep with you!"

“I kidnapped you because of you, Violet! Your powers are impressive, limitless it would seem but not only that, you are a natural at solving problems before they are a problem. Had you not shown your pretty little face to DevTech we wouldn't be having this conversation,” he continued as he stared at the ceiling. “I would have let you continue your mundane life while I could just carry on with my original intentions. Get more wealth, more power, and more disposable minions until I could crush your family and every other super by some other means… but instead you had to take up that damn internship that Winston offered to you because he recognized your wit. Instead, you had to show up on my radar as a threat and rather than killing you I saw an opportunity, not knowing how incredibly stupid that would be."

"So you'd go back and kill me if you could, am I hearing that right?" Violet asked. 

"I didn't say that but you know what, that plan doesn’t sound absolutely horrible to me at this moment," Buddy bit back, regretting the words almost immediately. 

Violet had heard enough. She turned away from him and approached the computer, she hadn't much experience with technology at Syndrome's level, but there was surely a way for her to communicate with someone within her circle of trust. Her parents, Rick. Winston. Hell, maybe a pizza delivery guy, if she only knew the address. 

“How do I work the comms?” Violet asked and Syndrome gave a scoff. 

“Why the hell would I assist you in this jailbreak?”

“If you’d like to keep living for one, though I’m glad you’ve finally admitted that I am indeed a prisoner here,” Violet said as she cast a glance over her shoulder. “Progress. Not that it’ll help you escape the three plus life sentences the NSA is going to stick on you.”

Buddy slammed the back of his head against the cold concrete floor. He swore that the next time he saw LeBrock he was going to castrate him. Things were going so smoothly too. He was going to have it all. Power, wealth, clout… and a super with benefits at the very least.

“Alright, new deal. I’ll take your parents off the board and we go back to business as usual,” the pinned man bargained. Violet rolled her eyes as she scrolled through the endless tabs that Syndrome had in his system. 

“You know, as tempting as that is, I think I’ll pass,” Violet muttered as she turned around from the computer system. There was the den upstairs which had a landline. It would ring from time to time, mocking her with the shrill alert that someone was trying to sell the house a vacuum, or perhaps one of his dastardly friends wanted to brag about what terrible deed they did that week. Lifting her hold on Syndrome, Violet waited for him to stand so she could wrap him up and roll him out in her forcefield, but he remained on the floor staring at her. 

No. He was staring past her. She turned her head, expecting to see another incoming call but when she saw the screens were normal Violet swung her body back around in time to see Syndrome escaping out the door. Cursing herself for falling for something so childish she screamed before chasing after him.

  
  


‘Good job, Einstein!’ Buddy scolded as he weaved through the production line floor. Narrowly dodging the blunted waves and bursts of magnetic fields she threw his way, destroying everything in their path. He didn’t stand a chance against her without his watch at the very least, but there was something of potential at the back of the line that could save his skin. 

He spotted the locker that contained one of his spare super suits of his and all the goodies that came along with it. He had thrown away the dreams of being a super, but like most vain people who failed to move on from the glory days of youth he kept little mementos of his past tucked away and out of sight, taken out only for nostalgic purposes. 

A thin purple wall appeared in front of him and Buddy slammed right into it. He barely had time to roll out of the way as the wall fell towards him, threatening to encase him. He began to low crawl from this point, checking over his shoulder periodically to check out where the super was but she was nowhere in sight from his current vantage point. Looking ahead, he judged that he was only a few meters from the locker but the biggest obstacle in his way now was the fact that the space between him and the saving grace of a set of utility gauntlets provided absolutely no cover leaving him vulnerable.

His eyes darted to the production droids around him to see what he could use to his advantage. Three rows down stood the smoke grenade station, a sight that made him grin. It was about damn time he caught a break! He inched for the table, going over the strategic plan in his mind on repeat. Violet's powers allowed her to only have two force fields going on at once so quantity would be in his favor. 

"Hiding is my thing, Syndrome," Violet called out. She was close and being that he failed to see so much as a shoelace Buddy concluded that she had gone invisible. She was trying to draw him out, but he wasn't going to give himself away so easily. "You should quit while you're ahead. I might be able to knock down your sentence since you got me a dog. Rick might even be willing to commute your sentence too-"

Buddy bit his tongue. He didn't think Violet was capable of lies. There was no way he would see anything other than the inside of a jail cell with the rap sheet he had. The most likely scenario aside from solitary confinement would be capital punishment and he was not too keen about either scenario. 

Buddy rose to his feet and began to lop the grenades as quickly as he picked them up, tossing them in all different directions and the production floor began to fill with thick plumes of smoke making it near impossible to see beyond a few inches. Turning, he made a run for the locker again, dropping a final smoke bomb to cover him as he made his mad dash for. The smoke burned at his eyes, but it sure as hell beat losing it all. 

He ripped the locker door open and pulled the super suit out and quickly slapped the utility gauntlets onto his wrist before finding his way out of the smoke. Keeping his arm raised at eye level, Buddy scanned the production floor for Violet again, but he could see a pile of clothes on the far end of the room. 

She was naked. This woman could kill him and may have the intent to do so and he was still being led by the thing between his legs. 'Get it together man!' he chastised. 

"Violet, come on out," he cooed gently as he sidestepped a smoke bomb that was beginning to taper off. "We can still make that deal if you want it. No parents on the chopping block, no additional punishments for this misunderstanding.” he continued as he lowered his aim slightly. The probe in his left gauntlet might prove to be more productive than this. “I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to talk.”

He listened for the sound of feet against the polished floor or even breathing if she was that close, but with robots that survived Violet’s initial outburst still working away it was difficult to hear sounds as faint as that. At a loss he moved to release the probe when the elevator bell rang out. He turned his entire body to the sound and watched in horror as the elevator doors opened. 

Without hesitation he shot his zero-point gravity beam into the elevator, hoping to catch something in his ray, but it was blocked by a new force field that stood just outside of the entry point. Violet made herself visible to him again, or at least her head and arms. Buddy could do nothing but watch, knowing he wouldn’t be able to make it to the elevator in time.

“Violet, just wait!” Buddy called out.

Violet didn't lower the shield as the doors began to close, but she did raise a hand to flip him off before the doors shut completely. Buddy cursed and bolted for his technical lab. He wasn't going to be able to cut her off from the telephone but he could cut off the phone line. Entering the tech lab he stopped in his tracks as he observed the monitors displaying the security cameras on the outskirts of his property. A caravan of several black SUVs were making their way down the secluded path to his estate and he could hear LeBrock’s voice loud and clear in his mind.

_ 'Invite the Doctor in so he can conduct his work with you there.' _

_ ‘I'll let you off for the moment, Pine, but we'll talk soon.’ _

"... Fuck me."

  
  
  
  


  
  
  



	16. Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning:
> 
> This chapter implies a torture scene. It's not the most detailed but it is there.

Violet held herself as she rode the elevator up. She didn't even know where to begin with the shit show she was currently in, she just needed to get out of it. First thing she had to do was call Rick as he was the most reliable of her contacts and could get a team assembled in no time. Finding her might be a little more on the tricky side, but not impossible. 

When the doors opened she was greeted by Apple’s enthusiastic self. She pushed past the terrier mix and went straight toward the den where her salvation would be waiting for her. She grabbed a throw blanket as she walked past the couch and wrapped it around her body, wishing desperately for her suit. 

Stepping into the den, Violet picked up the phone and the feeling of hope died as quickly as it left her.

“Do you want to be part of the solution or the problem?” Asked the voice belonging to Syndrome. 

Violet resisted the urge to throw the phone at the wall. Of course he’d have an internal way of preventing communication with the outside world. 

“If I have to run barefoot to the nearest gas station to get away from you I’ll do it!” Violet threatened as she tugged the blanket around her tighter, knowing that his eyes must be on her now. 

Below, Buddy groaned in frustration as he pulled up the file on the prototype replacement for the bracelet Violet had just released herself from. He knew that she’d eventually break it, he just assumed it would have been while she was in containment and not from his own fuck up of trusting her. 

“Are you sure that’s the answer you want to go with?” He asked as he turned his attention to the monitor that displayed the men dismounting from the SUVs outside, all of them armed with his latest line of weapons. It would be poetic for him to die by the very same arms he produced, but he had no intentions of dying today. 

“You bet it is,” Violet replied. “And I’m taking my dog with me.”

Buddy scoffed at the boldness of the woman as he clicked the order for the bot to create a replacement S.A.D. A microchip that was the size of a grain of rice that could be planted into her skin. Thankfully the station that was responsible for this job was not one of the casualties of Violet’s wrath, but he would have to get her to at least stay the night. 

Or more accurately, they would both have to survive the night. 

“Suit yourself, Parr,” Buddy said as he typed in a set of commands into his computer. “You’ve picked the best room in the house for your temporary cell,” he mocked before executing the order to seal the den. He smirked with satisfaction seeing Violet’s form whip around as she was locked into the room. “It’s actually the only room on the floor plan that’s not included on the house blueprints. Soundproof, impenetrable to a fault though my favorite feature of that room is the space heater beneath the desk.”

Violet screamed in frustration as she threw the phone down. She turned, raising an arm to throw an energy burst at where the doorway once was but she couldn’t bring herself to do it as she saw Apple cower. Defeated for the moment, Violet crouched down to give the pooch an affectionate rub as the lone monitor on the desk lit up, displaying Syndrome’s face. Violet turned her face away from the screen for a brief second but quickly returned her hateful gaze. 

“You can’t keep me in here forever you know,” Violet started. “When I get out of here, you’re going to wish-”

“Save it for the funeral, Parr,” Buddy shot back as he began to set up a few more programs for the room. Just like with the dining area, a television screen slid from the ceiling and it displayed security footage of the outside of the house. Violet blinked at the image of what looked like a mafia. 

“Who-”

“Those are Schmerzan’s men. My guess is that LeBrock tipped off my location but you know, that’s what I get for hiring him as my designer,” Buddy said as he removed the gauntlets from his wrists and slapped his watch back on. He tried his best to calm his racing heart. The Doctor had yet to exit the vehicle but he wouldn’t show his face until it suited him. Buddy was tempted to pull the detonator from his gauntlet, but having anything of that level on him would be a show of bad faith. Schmerzen was still clearly in a negotiating place, otherwise, he would have ordered his men to start lighting up the front door. “They are here for you and to be perfectly honest I’m still not too fond of the idea of sharing,” he admitted. As tempting as it was to show Violet she had it particularly good with him as her handler, no one deserved the undivided attention of Doctor Pain. There were horror stories. Rumors mostly, but the one that rang true was the one concerning the Doctor’s wife, one of his men and an alleged affair. “I’ve set a timer to release the doors. I’m hoping that they'll take the bait and go on a wild goose chase for you but if not you’ll be in there for four hours so I really hope you can wait to use the bathroom until then,” Buddy continued.

“What are you going to do?” Violet asked as she sat down in the lone chair in the room, her eyes locked on the men who were dressed well enough to enter even the most upscale cocktail party but were packing enough heat to take out a small town. 

“What I do best, Parr. Talk my way out of this,” Buddy stated. He paused as he heard her laugh in response. He licked his lips as he found himself tempted to try to reconcile with the woman but shook off the desire. Confessions at times like this were signs of doubt and weakness. He was going to walk away from this as he had from every other mess that had come about in his life. 

“And if that doesn’t work?” Violet asked softly as she turned her gaze to the computer screen that showed the nervous man. His eyes gave him away.

He didn’t want to think of that scenario, but the longer he made the man wait outside his home the lower his chances of survival were. Snubbing his nose, he faked a grin as he finished typing.

“Use the arrow keys to filter through the security cams before making a break for it. I suggest heading west. It’s a good five miles before you even hit a paved road but there is a little diner owned by an elderly couple,” Buddy rambled and that’s when he knew he was conceding defeat. 

‘Well, might as well try to make someone miss you, right?’ he thought but he couldn’t bring himself to look at her. Couldn’t muster an apology, or a confession either. Instead, he widened his grin and gave a shrug. “I recommend the blueberry cobbler,” he said before cutting off the comm lines completely and walked out of the lab and onto the floor.

It was in his favor that Violet put up a fight. There was clear evidence of a struggle. If he was lucky the eugenics fanatic would fall for the ruse and Buddy could live another day to brag how he pulled a fast one on the one person no one should trick. The elevator ride up top felt longer than usual. Was this what his peers felt when they were on the final stretch of death row?

‘Stop it! You aren’t dead yet.’ He criticized as the doors opened again. Tapping into the control panel he left the elevator open. He had nothing to hide, that was the play he had and he was going to stick to it. He walked to the front door, quickening his steps, not daring to set his eyes on the space of the wall that hid the safe room. With his hand on the handle, Buddy Pine briefly considered the very real possibility that he had made a mistake, that he was still making a mistake. The best weapon he had at his disposal was only a few feet away. She might not fight for him but she would fight to save her life surely. Regardless, it was too late to pull out now. Taking in a deep breath he rolled his shoulders in preparation before throwing the doors open and greeting the men with false joy. 

“Doctor Schmerzen, what a pleasant surprise,” he lied as he stepped out of the safety of the house and into the paved space that was occupied by the small army. He reached for his pocket and produced the bracelet that Violet had worn not twenty minutes ago. "I'm so glad you're here because you know just as I was talking to John and oof- You are not going to believe this but the super escaped! She left my place an absolute mess too and you know with her powers she could be right under my nose and I wouldn't have a clue!" He said as he folded his arms and teetered on the balls of his feet. Releasing a nervous laugh, his eyes traveled to the vehicle that was parked farthest from the house, a window was cracked ever so slightly and an armed man stood close by. Tossing the bracelet to that guard, Buddy continued his dialogue with the rest of the men, doing his best to keep his voice amplified enough for their boss to hear. “I've already done a sweep of the inside, and I think that she might have actually taken off into the woods. It's only been maybe ten minutes but I think we can catch up to her if we split up.” 

When Buddy stopped speaking silence and vacant stares was the response he got. He knew better than to elicit emotion from hired guns, but the men Doctor Schmerzen had were a whole other breed of henchmen. His gaze shot back to the cracked window, hoping that it would roll up and signal to everyone to roll out after the missing super but instead the door opened and hope left Buddy's body completely. 

Without warning two men rushed him, seizing him by the arms and escorted him back inside. Buddy didn't struggle as he was hauled towards the fireplace and forced to his knees as more men from outside made their way in, clearing the furniture with no concern to the property. Buddy, regrettably, knew what they were doing. They were setting up shop and it was no use talking sense to the worker bees, he'd have to wait for the Queen to enter before a real conversation could happen and that time was now. 

Doctor Schmerzen entered the house and dread consumed Buddy. He knew it was basic psychological games that his team had set up. Guerilla tactics to take over the camp, give their leader an advantage in height, though that wasn't entirely necessary as the lanky bastard stood at a height of 6'3", already towering over his own stature was a couple inches shy of six even, but there was no such thing as overkill in this industry. 

“Please, make yourselves at home,” Buddy said as the bioscientist had yet to glance his way and Buddy was already finished analyzing the situation. The men were setting up a chop shop in his living room, the good doctor was dressed not in the business attire he normally witnessed over video calls but surgical wear with the medical coat to match. Someone was going to get hurt and Buddy was the alternate donor on that agenda. 

"So, am I to assume that you just happened to be in the neighborhood after crossing how many borders?" Pine asked as he tapped his watch to summon one of his home droids to fetch the liquor cart. "I mean, it is a long drive from your empire… Can I make anyone a drink?"

“Where is she?” Schmerzen asked simply, his gaze set on the open elevator down the hall. If there was one thing that Pine preferred about the man currently invading his home it was that he wasted no time getting to the point. 

"Not here I can tell you that much,' Pine started as he motioned to get to his feet but the two men that stood by his side forced him back down. The ginger grimaced at the sensation of his already bruising knees hitting the floor again but he didn't complain. Rolling his head back to Schmerzen's position, he offered a shrug as a bot rolled into the room with his liquor cart. "My guess is that she is within a 2-mile radius from here by now. Maybe a little more if she headed east, there is a river that flows pretty quick that way.” 

Doctor Schmerzen finally offered his gaze and it was a vengeful glare. He was not pleased with the information delivered and Buddy remained as neutral as he could be as he ran his hands over his drink selection.

"You expect me to believe that you lost your super?"

"Shocking, I know but believe me, I am just as upset about it as you…” Buddy did his best not to even acknowledge the ominous black crates that the gangsters were dragging in. “You know, most people would just make lemonade when life hands them lemons, but you know what my old man would say at the end of a rough day?" Buddy asked as he pulled the bourbon from the cart along with a whole lemon. "Let's get a round of whisky sours for my friends!” Buddy said with a sad smile, one that was met with hostility. Pursing his lips, Buddy set the lemon aside and opened the bottle of liquor. And swung it back straight. Shaking his head he looked back to the Doctor and gave a shrug. “She’s not here.”

Schmerzen’s dark eyes narrowed on the man before him. This was not their first interaction with each other. Up until recently, their relationship had been rather beneficial. Pine had provided him with the best weapons he had to offer, and in return, Buddy Pine was compensated fairly well, but the deal was always made at a handsome discount. 

“You would be dead if it wasn’t for me, being that I’m a reasonable man I will ask you again Mr. Pine-”

"That was my old man, just Pine will do. But you know, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I'm the one who actually earned a doctorate degree," Pine mumbled as he took another drink, realizing once more that he had the worst case of foot-in-mouth this evening. 

"Pine, do you really expect me to believe that you would allow something as priceless as a super to ever leave your sight?" Asked the fellow man of science. "I know you are hiding the super here somewhere and I would prefer to find her with your assistance," he clasped his hands in front of him. “Where is she?” Schmerzen growled and Buddy scoffed as he lifted his chin up. 

“HEY! Invisi-girl! Come on out! Hide and seek is over!” The home owner called out, fully knowing that Violet was less than a stone throw away. Silence settled in the room briefly, it was Buddy’s laughter that broke the stillness. Lifting the bottle to his lips again he gave a nod to the Doctor. “See? Not here…”

Doctor Schmerzen smirked and turned to one of his men. He gave a single nod and the worker bees went right to work. Buddy grinned seeing all but three of the mercs disperse. All intent on finding the super in question. 

“That’s a neat trick. What’s that you got implanted in their heads? Hive mentality?” Buddy asked as Schmerzen locked eyes with him again. 

“It’s called respect, Mr. Pine, and it is evident you have none. Put him on the table.”

The men who had kept him down were now pulling him up and honest fear flooded Buddy’s system. 

“I told you, I don’t know where she is!” He said quickly as the two men strapped him to the table. The guard who was on standby was pulling out jumper cables.

“No, Mr. Pine, you are simply saying that she isn’t here. I’m looking for a location and this can go over much smoother than you are allowing it to be so lets play a game. Who can find our missing super first; my men or your memory?”

\---

Violet watched the scene unfold initially with indifference. Worst-case scenario was that she was trading in one psychopath for another, but it got ugly quick. 

There was no denying that Syndrome was a monster. He had committed nearly every crime in the book, including torture. While Karma was a bitch, Violet, the social justice warrior that she was, took no pleasure in witnessing the damage that was being done to her captor. 

She loathed it actually.

She was so tempted to mute the volume, turn off the screen, wait out the remaining hours in silence and darkness but she sat in front of the screen hugging her knees to her chest as she watched the horror until it became played out. 

_“Where is she?”_

_“I don’t know-”_

And another round of shocks. Every now and then one of the men would come back with a pitcher of water to soak his skin with to increase the pain. 

Violet couldn’t say how long this went on, but it was less than the time limit Syndrome left on the door. She watched their leader storm out of the house, leaving the men to pack up their equipment. 

“I guess he really didn’t know where she was,” she heard one of the men say as they removed his body from the surgery table and dropped him to the ground. It was difficult to say if he was dead or alive, but she was optimistic on the later for several reasons. 

The criminal organization wasn’t cleaning the scene, nor were they taking his body away. She was paranoid that someone was going to come back with a few cans of gasoline and burn the evidence away, but the caravan left the house as it was. 

There was also the reminder that this man survived getting sucked through a jet turbine, the explosion it caused, and the hundred-foot drop. 

The door eventually slid open and Apple ran out to meet the unconscious man, pawing at him and whimpering, but he did not respond to her pleas. Violet watched the act with pity but her eyes traveled to the still open door. 

She could be free. Run to the first payphone she came across, call Rick, get Syndrome behind bars forever and go back to her life. 

Her mundane life. 

Her life that included getting rejected by the NSA on the regular and asked to stake out main street based on tips that someone down on their luck might rob the bank. Where she’d remain in a studio apartment and watch the six o’clock news give tips to average folks how to save money while people like Syndrome, LeBrock, Schmerzen and so many others continued to thrive in part to bad police footwork and shady politicians. 

Violet took in a deep breath and approached the door, the cool night air circulating through the entryway of the house and back out into the forest, as if inviting her to go too. She closed the door and wrapped the blanked around her so it could cling to her without her support. 

Summoning a force field on the floor, Violet turned back towards Syndrome and slid the thin plate beneath him,lifting him off from the floor and carried him to his bedroom. She’d have to find that blasted medical bot to make sure that he would live through the night while she got to work, but she had been left on the sidelines of enough fights to learn the basics of first aid. 

She removed his shoes, pants and both of his shirts before she grabbed two pillows to elevate his legs, get the blood flowing to the core more was the purpose of that as it was likely that his heart was under a decent deal of stress. As she tucked the blankets around him it suddenly dawned on her that Syndrome had done this act for her just over a week ago, though she would argue that her bedside manner was better. Or at least she’d intend on being more gentle to him when he awoke. 

One of her hands found its way into his damp hair and she found herself thinking of how this evening began. They talked, fought, kissed and fought some more before he managed to be put into place by someone worse than him. 

“Yet somehow I still ended up in your bed,” she muttered gently as she stroked his copper locks away from his face. She wasn’t naive enough to believe that he didn’t give her up tonight out of heroism or some code of honor. It was entirely likely that had he given her up that he’d be dead for withholding the information, so secrecy was the key to his survival. She still carried a tint of gratitude towards him and his suffering though. 

Leaning forward, Violet placed a tender kiss on his forehead. 

“I’m going to be really pissed if I don’t get to beat you in a match again, so don't die on me, idiot.”

  
\---  
  
The sound of birds chirping outside slowly pulled Buddy from sleep. 

He had another dream about her. It started out pretty nice though it turned into a nightmare. It was pretty vivid too, more than his usual dreams. 

The birds outside were repetitive with their song, but it was still oddly comforting. A steady pace. Like the rhythm of a heartbeat.

His eyes shot open and he sat up in confusion. It wasn’t a dream. He pulled the covers off of him, surprised to find himself hooked up to his medical droid. He was just as surprised to see he had nothing but his underwear on. The fact that he was alive was a little off too but he had expected to wake up on the floor- or potentially in the back of a car or on a boat if Schmerzen was pissed enough. 

He opened his mouth to call out her name but he hesitated. He didn’t know how he ended up here- but he didn’t expect Schmerzen’s men to be the kind of people who provided aftercare. 

“Hello?” He called out. It was better to be cautious in this situation. “Is anyone here?”

He didn’t have to wait long to hear the rapid steps of Apple. She bounded into the room and jumped up onto the bed, something she had never done, or at least not with him. After all, Violet was really the caregiver to the mutt, she’d only bother him if she wasn’t around. He lifted his hands to both pet the enthusiastic pup and to keep her at bay as well. 

Maybe she got that cobbler after all. 

“She was pretty worried about you,” Violet said from the doorway, forcing his eyes to look her way. She was alive. Her hands were full with a cup of coffee in one and a glass of water in the other. She was still here and-

“Is that my shirt?” He asked suddenly, recognizing the pink dress shirt that was three sizes too big for her. The sleeves were rolled up to her elbows and the length was practically a dress on her.

“It is,” she beamed as she advanced forward. “And this is for you,” she said as she set the glass of the water on the nightstand beside him before she took a seat at the edge of the bed. Their eyes met briefly and she looked down into her mug briefly before looking up again. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I was tortured for a couple of hours,” he muttered as he reached forward to steal the mug from her hands. She relinquished her coffee willingly but made a face over the transgression. He smirked as he took a grateful gulp of the liquid black gold. “How long was I out for?”

“It’s Monday so… thirty-something hours?” 

Buddy cursed and moved to sit up, but Violet’s hand pressed against his chest pretty forcefully. Before he could explain his worries about maintaining an upstanding alter ego Violet was already handing him a printed paper of an email chain between his account, with Winston and a name from HR looped in. 

“You’ve got a pretty bad head cold. Flying into the city isn’t exactly what the doctor ordered and it’s not like you can take the bus in so I managed to buy you two sick days. The trade off is that you and Apple are both expected to report in on Wednesday. I’m pretty sure that Winston prefers her company over yours.”

Buddy stared at the papers in disbelief. “But I shut down the communication links,” he whispered and Violet nodded. 

“I know. I fixed them. Took a computer literacy class a few semesters back. Passed by the skin of my teeth but I got the job done,” she said stealing the mug back, relishing the dumbfounded expression the supposed genius was displaying. 

“And I suppose you are here to gloat that your old man will be coming to pick you up and throw me out the window within the hour?” 

Violet laughed before taking a sip and handed back the remaining portion of coffee. “Nope. Nor is Rick, or anyone else for that matter,” Violet assured.

Buddy blinked a few times as he tried to process the information he was presented. Violet was being nice to him, and had managed to do something pretty significant for him, and undid a technical glitch he had set up. He was still trying to wrap his head around why she was wearing his clothes and that he barely had any of his own on. 

“Am I in a coma?” He asked bluntly and Violet shook her head. 

“No, and before you ask why I’m still here or anything related to that… I want to make a new deal. I want to stick around here. No devices attached to me and I won’t try to break out,” she started. She could already read the ‘no’ written on his face but she sat closer to get ahead of the denial. “I could have run away last night or the night before but I didn’t! I stayed, and helped you!”

“You expect me to believe you want to hang around out of your own free will? For what exactly? Be a villain in training or are you waiting to watch Schmerzen to have another go at me again because I got news for you, Parr-”

“I’m not the enemy here! And I’m not in the business of being a bad guy!” Violet quickly countered, surprising both of them. She sighed and focused her attention onto Apple who’s tail was slapping against the bed. “It’s clear that I’m never going to end up in the ranks of NSA agents as a super, and as a super, there is still only so much good that I can do.”

“Pesky morals and all,” Buddy quipped as he finished off the coffee, ignoring the look of disdain she was giving him now. “So what is it that you want? Skip the small fries and go for the big whoppers?” She nodded quickly and he threw his head back, wondering if it was possible to slip into a coma after he already woke up. “And you expect me to help you because…?”

He wouldn’t bite for redemption, though it would be nice to see some redeeming quality break out. Revenge against Doctor Schmerzen was a potential play, but he seemed pretty spooked the other night and while Schmerzen was on her list of people to drop off on the NSA’s doorstep it was still too early to pop that idea up. 

Pursing her lips together, Violet leaned in closer and shrugged. 

“For one, you’d be able to make more money,” Violet teased. “There’s a new hero on the scene who isn’t playing by the rules?” She suggested. “You sell the best security products you’ve got to those willing to buy and those who don’t are the ones I go for at first.” 

He nodded but wasn’t quite sold on the idea yet. It was a risky move for anyone to pull, but mafias did it all the time, only thing was that the mafia usually didn’t give a damn about cleaning out crime like she did. 

“And you might not be able to bask in the glow of paparazzi cameras or screaming fans, but my dad would really hate to be outshined by someone he can’t even put a face to- and I can’t even imagine how upset some NSA agents will be if we did their job better than them. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be on top than in the middle.”

This comment elicited the response she was looking for. 

His fingers drummed against the ceramic mug as he contemplated the matter. It was true that he had essentially burned his seat at the table with the top dogs of crime- refusing to sell Violet off in the first place and again for ‘losing’ her. Was it worth it? He couldn’t say, but the look she was giving him made him feel something. Like she was going to be the death of him. 

As a kid he would have gladly thrown his life down for Mr. Incredible, and now as a grown man he was willing to risk what he had left on this spawn of justice. No. This wasn’t justice. Not in the textbook sense anyway. She was, in more ways than he’d like to admit, like him. 

This was personal to her. She was just masking it as for the betterment of society. Wasn’t that how he painted his pursuit of being a hero? Level the playing field for everyone else?

“What happened to changing the status quo, winning hearts and minds? Legislation and all that?” He asked and Violet smirked. 

“That’s still the game plan. We are just speeding up the process.”

“Uh huh. Bold of you to presume that I actually care to help this little project of yours,” he taunted as he settled against the headboard of his bed. There wouldn’t be room for slip ups on this. Get too deep on either side and it would guarantee him a prison cell or a hole in the head. But the potential rewards were enticing. Anonymous fame, pissing off all the wrong people in the right way, and lining his Panama accounts a little thicker.

“Can I come up with the vigilante name?”

Violet smirked as she rose from the bed. “We can workshop that, along with some other rules- but you’re definitely in charge of the tech.”


	17. Shaken Baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: 
> 
> This chapter includes;  
> Solid mentioning of child abuse including sex trafficking.  
> SMUT  
> A casual conversation of reproductive rights  
> And Government Sanctioned Genocide
> 
> Because of these topics I have bumped up the rating to Explicit and added to the tags. 
> 
> Enjoy! (OR SUFFER WITH ME :]]]] )

Mirage sat in the Capital boardroom of the NSA along with some of the other top agents in the country. However, one wouldn't know that she and those she sat with were the best that the agency had to offer given the state of their superior.

Louise Foster, the Chief of the NSA had spent the last hour informing them all they were sorry excuses for agents, though his language was a tad bit more colorful than that. The most poetic moment of this execution of morale was that if they continued to perform at this level they should start prepping their resumes and hope they could be so lucky to become mall cops. 

Mirage had worked for some real dicks in the past, but Foster was really in the running for biggest asshole. The only thing that would send him over the top would be him threatening her life, but the fact that this job directly kept her from serving time in federal prison it wasn't hard to see that her way of life was in peril. 

Raising her hand Mirage cleared her throat as Chief Foster acknowledged her with a murderous glare.

"Sir, I'm terribly sorry to be the one having to point this out but our division isn’t responsible for policing heroes. Vigilante or not, this ‘WatchDog’ individual, They should not be the focus of our meeting. What we should be asking is how did some lone wolf get these results when our resources couldn’t?" Mirage asked. Her tone came off as polite but there was clearly defiance in her eyes. 

All eyes were on her now. Mirage wasn’t shy about her past. She had helped lure several dozen supers to their deaths, the antithesis of what the NSA supposedly stood for. And while she was reforming herself to be a model citizen she had no sympathy for the supers that met their demise. Her only regret was not playing a bigger part in her former employer’s own untimely end. Foster was aware of the femme fatale that Mirage was, and he was waiting for her to slip up, and while he wanted this to be the moment to take her out of commission there was some merit to her question and she had made a few key friends in the business. The balding man placed his hands upon the table and leaned forward. 

"Agent M, I don't think I need to remind you what it is that we do around here? Our mission is to support supers, be their guiding light in the missions that they take on- they do not have the proper intel or wherewithal to know who on this delicate food chain they can pick off. Special Agent Jacobs had been working The Puppet Master case for years and now thanks to this free-range ‘hero’ Jacobs lost his mark to the FBI!"

Mirage scoffed as she crossed her arms and legs.

“Well, full offense to Jacobs, but I’m pretty sure this vigilante helped put a child trafficker away for life overnight,” Mirage bit back as she cast her green eyes to Agent Jacobs, a pale, thin man with beady eyes and dark brown hair that was styled high and tight. “Were you aware that The Puppet Master was pulling strings on kiddie porn, or were you waiting for something more damnable like tax evasion?”

The government office was tense. It always was pretty rigid for her but the amount of stress in the air could be scooped out with a spoon.

“You know what, Agent, how about this- let’s close this meeting out. I’m placing you in charge of locating this vigilante, and you better get me some leads soon or you’ll be trading in that badge for an orange jumpsuit. Are we clear?” Chief Foster growled. Mirage smiled and nodded as she packed up her files while everyone else in the remained cemented in their seats. Heading for the glass door she stopped and turned back to look at the still fuming government official.

“Actually, I do have one question. Just to clarify, when I find this person, should I give them a job, a medal or a pair of handcuffs?”

\---

Violet smiled as she sipped at her tea. Seated at the dining room table, a sea of newspapers laid out before her. 

**_‘Watch Out for the WatchDog!’_ **

**_‘Watch Dog Mauls Puppet Master’_ **

**_‘Who Let the WatchDog Out?’_ **

**_‘WatchDog Blows Whistle on Child Trafficking Ring’_ **

She leafed through all the articles with pride. Syndrome did the heavy lifting on this, and by heavy lifting it was just sending an encrypted file to the FBI tip line with a calling card for WatchDog, but it was still a huge win for them. Turning the page on the Metroville Tribune, Violet’s expression hardened seeing a quarter-page ad featuring her senior portrait. 

**_Missing Person:_ **

**_Violet Parr._ **

**_Last Seen in Downtown Metroville._ **

**_Any information please contact Bob and Helen Parr at-_ **

“Hey Parr, you got a minute?” Syndrome called from the hall startling Violet. Closing the newspaper back to the front page, Violet quickly made her way out to meet Syndrome, Apple right on her heel. As she stopped short in the entryway Violet was taken aback at the pair of reading glasses on his face. Unable to resist, a snort escaped her as she covered her face. 

“I didn’t know you were going blind,” she mocked before she turned her attention to the digital watch in his hand. It was similar in looks to the one on his wrist, but it was smaller in size and rather than the standard black and white that he went with it was a light shade of her namesake. Violet took a hesitant step back as the device and Syndrome shook his head. 

“It’s not what you think it is,” he interjected as he removed his glasses and tucked the lenses into the front pocket of his shirt. “And I’m not going blind, there’s just a lot of tiny parts," he said in defense. Violet nodded but kept her distance until he showed off the clasp. “Trust me, Parr. I’m reaching a point where I’m looking to get rid of you,” he muttered before eyeing the papers on the table. He had picked them up from a gas station while they were still warm from the presses but he had yet to read them. His own entertainment came from reading message boards of his peers collectively losing their minds. “How does the civilian side see our first stunt?”

“They love it,” Violet stated with her eyes on him with a smile as well. “How do you feel about your first good act?” She asked and Buddy swallowed at the question. 

It was an easy hit. Low hanging fruit. He was never a fan of The Puppet Master and it was a million percent because of the kiddie ring. 

“Like I should have done it sooner,” he admitted as he played with the tongue of the watch’s clasp, flipping it back and forth with a pointer finger. There were a lot of emotions swirling in him right now. Joy or some sense of pride for putting someone else in the hands of the authorities, but that also made him a little angry as well. Someone should have nabbed the pedophile kingpin years ago. There was a hint of fear because of the possibility of getting caught but it was exciting too, a bit of an adrenaline rush. The one feeling that stuck out however was regret. It shouldn’t have taken a push or even a gentle nudge from a hero to out that sicko, but there were rules for the club he was a part of and the ones who provided exotic entertainment were the epitome of the phrase ‘Untouchable’. 

Violet rested her hands around his, pulling him from his thoughts and he met her gaze. 

“It’s okay,” she said softly as a thumb stroked over his shaky hand. “You did really good, Buddy. Those kids will get out, and no one else will ever be hurt by him again. And it’s going to be our job to make sure that nobody takes over that pipeline or makes a new chain, right?” Violet asked and Buddy nodded looking back down at the watch he had made for her before she took the device from him and cinched it upon her dominant wrist, trusting that she would be able to take it off on her own again. "Now, what was it that you wanted to show me?"

Buddy nodded and shook off the vulnerable sensation to talk shop with the super.

"Yeah, so I know you wanted a suit but if you ask me that's pretty impractical for you. Too flashy and whatnot," Buddy began making Violet smirk, imagining in her head what Edna Mode would have to say about that. "If you have to go out into the field- which I still strongly advocate against- it's better to be in your civies at all times, or better yet all black but I digress," Buddy stated as he stepped closer and points to a small button on the side of the watch that had a red light centered. "If I can just have you push that there."

Violet eyed him with suspicion but obliged the request and the red light turned green. 

Buddy took in a deep breath and nodded before stepping back again. "Great. Okay. Now, do me a favor and do the thing. Go invisible."

Violet compiled again and triggered the power. She looked down, prepared to tell him that it was okay if he couldn't manage to get a functional suit going anytime soon but she saw nothing. Not the denim jacket nor the cargo pants she put on this morning. She saw nothing. 

"Buddy!?" Violet shouted. "Holy shit!"

"I know right?!" He shouted back looking at the seemingly empty space before him. "Oh man! You know I wasn't sure if it was going to take but I figured that your powers are actually emitted through electrical pulses that your body gives out so I just thought you know 'what if we can amplify that?' and so I did! There's actually a setting on there that can increase the range- right now it's set only to the fibers that are attached to you, but it can go up to about five feet so long as the person or thing is contracted to you, chain reaction and all. I think with some more modifications I could make it so a whole marching band could just vanish with you holding a hand! I'm calling it the Chameleon Cloak- I'm also going to try to see if I can mimic it for my hovercraft but anyway if you don't want the watch as the host of the emitter I'm pretty sure I could store the tech into something else. Like a necklace or whatever, but you know I was thinking about your force fields as well..."

Violet watched the man continue to talk in awe. What he was talking about. What he was imagining and creating. It was amazing. What Violet would have given to have this tech while she was in the field. He had solved a problem that she didn't think could be solved but the thing that was really getting her was how happy he looked as he shared his thought process. 

_'Don't.'_

He looked like a kid who was sharing his favorite facts. Pure joy was written all over his face.

_'He can't see you right now. You can just walk away.'_

He has a string of freckles that really pop out when he smiles. She had never noticed that before.

"I'm almost positive that if I get the frequency right, the color of your force fields can be muted too. Hell, we could even display another color. Or make it look like some other power, slight trick of the eye to make it look like water vapor or-" Buddy was cut off by the very odd sensation of being kissed. 

No! It was an awesome sensation! He was just utterly confused because he couldn't see anything. It was like being kissed by a ghost-or some other unseen force. But on top of that, it was Violet's fifth rule on their new contract. 

Nothing physical could happen between them. 

Before that came the number one rule of no prisoner shit. Second was that no harm comes to her family. Period. Winston was included as being part of the family as well as Lucius and Honey. Only targeting villains who are causing big, societal problems was rule three and the fine men and women of the NSA were off-limits too was the fourth, a loop back to the second rule as she forgot to mention that Rick was family too and then came rule number five, which was summed up to no hanky panky.

"Parr?" He asked in confusion. "What are we doing here?"

Violet became visible again as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, breaking the kiss to look him in the eye. "I- I want to break a rule," she whispered nervously, knowing that she had made the happy moment incredibly awkward for him. 

She felt a pang of devastation when he pulled away from her without a word but she knew it was better this way. They had both agreed that in order to make this work, really work, they had to keep things professional. She watched as he moved to the sliding doors and opened one side, getting Apple to leave her side to run outside. Of course he would deprive her of the one thing she could give affection to in this house as he blew off steam. When he closed the door again it took a moment for her to recognize that he was still in the house with her. Oh- they were going to have to talk about boundaries. That's why he let Apple out. That's why he was delivering her that steel cold look. Violet readied herself for the uncomfortable conversation that had to be said.

“Buddy, I’m sorry,” Violet uttered as she looked to the floor wanting to turn invisible again like she did as a kid when her parents were disciplining her. "I forgot myself for a minute there and-"

“Please stop talking,” he muttered before pushing her back to the wall and planted his lips over hers and Violet responded in kind. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders again, his own hands sliding down her sides and hoisted her up, gripping her thighs as he backed away from the wall. He wanted her now. Needed to lay her down, ideally somewhere flat, where they wouldn’t be disturbed by tech, or former colleagues. The table would do nicely. 

Detaching his mouth from hers, he gently lowered her body to the flat top, admiring how her hair fanned out across the papers that were all blaring the arrival of a new hero who was not here to play. Violet sat up and quickly began to disrobe, tossing the jacket and her shirt to the floor leaving her sports bra on for the moment as he removed his shirt as well, though he took more care with his shirt as it was still housing his glasses. Placing the balled-up clothes on a chair he placed his hands onto her bare ribcage, running his fingers over the smooth skin, treading down dangerously close to the edge of her pants. 

Violet kicked off her tennis shoes and lifted her hips, helping him slide her cargo pants off, leaving her in her underwear. He nudged her legs open, setting himself up comfortably between her legs but he had yet to remove his slacks knowing it wouldn't take much to get himself off and ready, he was far more concerned about her. 

Women, in his mind, were a lot like machines. Yes. They could be cold. Uncaring even. But they required maintenance, attention to detail, and the proper amount of lubrication. 

She had lifted her sports bra above her head, revealing her breasts to him but before she could throw the article of clothing away a hand grabbed her wrists as they were raised over her head and he pinned her back down to the table. Violet was far from defenseless here. With a flick of her wrist, she could have Syndrome thrown around the room like a rag doll but this wasn't awful. Feeling vulnerable. It was a little exciting if she was going to be honest. She focused her dark blue eyes onto his icy gaze, biting her lip as she laid still. 

"Think you're some big, tough guy, huh?" Violet asked, producing the best sultry voice she could. It must have done the trick because she could feel his excitement prodding the inside of her thigh through his khaki colored slacks. 

"Yes, actually, I do," he whispered back huskily into her ear as his free hand rested over her mound, rubbing at her entrance through the soft material. Motioning the spot until he could feel her begin to go slick.

Violet held her breath as he removed her underwear. This was actually happening. He traced over her folds, and it was here that Violet felt how rough his hands were. He dressed like an executive, spoke like a politician, but he had working hands, callused from labor and toils. She stifled a gasp as he slid two of his fingers into her, pumping her as he gave a trail of kisses along her neckline and down to her torso. Violet's breathing hitched as he worked her with his hands. She was convinced he was trying to finish her with his fingers but as soon as the thought came to mind he pulled them out completely, slickening the rest of her womanhood with her juices, paying particular attention to her clit. She was surprised to feel the pain of him pinching her.

"Fuck me," she gasped out as Buddy took his hand away from her wetness and began to fumble with his pants, managing to release his manhood singlehandedly as his dominant hand still pinned her hands down.

"That's kind of the idea here, Parr," he mumbled back before plunging himself into her.

Violet arched her back, moaning in pleasure as he began to fuck her without mercy. Each thrust he made was made with the intent on driving her to a new peak and that much closer to his own finish line. 

Both of his hands landed on her waist to keep her in place. He enjoyed running his thumbs over her hip bones as his fingers massaged and squeezed at the tender region of the woman. He took great pride in watching the faces she made as he fucked her. Releasing another moan, she made the most delicious 'O' he had seen and he bent forward again to claim it.

Violet's hands that had been clutching the sides of the table were now burrowed deep into his copper locks. A hand trailing around his ear, following the line of his jaw, noticing the presence of some whiskers trying to burrow their way out of his skin. That hand moved further down, gliding along his throat and stopped to rest on his clavicle where she felt a raised scar. Her lips hesitated for a moment but went right back to work, moving away from his lips and focused upon his jawline. 

He didn't follow her lips, instead his hands moved up her sides until they landed on her breasts. They were small but perky. He didn't want to bring it up, even now as they were in the heat of it, but she had the ideal body type he normally sought out in women. Smaller frame, more sleek than curved. It was in his nature to want to destroy fragile things. He was especially prone to the 'super model's average, but if it were up to him he'd take the super over a supermodel every single fucking time. 

The hand that remained in his hair was now on the back of his neck, and the way that her nails traced over his skin made him shiver with pleasure. 

"Dammit Parr," Buddy rasped as he bucked into her again, more rigorous as he neared his boiling point. 

She gasped again, uttering out his name breathlessly and Buddy didn't want to admit it but that's what brought him to completion. He remained still as the tension that had been building up over the last few weeks drained from him and spilled into her. Violet was limp beneath him, he wasn’t sure if she had been finished but she looked satisfied enough with the activity.

"I wish you hadn't done that," she mumbled, coming to her senses again, a hand moving back to hold his face as she closed her eyes on him. "Not the sex part, that was great- but I should have asked you to finish elsewhere."

Buddy gave a sigh of relief. He nearly had a heart attack believing that he had failed to provide her with any satisfaction. "I assure you that I am clean. And I know you are too... I may have taken blood samples without your permission when you first arrived here. For health concerns obviously. Couldn't neglect my favorite lab rat of medical attention," he mumbled as he leaned in closer to kiss the side of her neck as Violet released a light sigh of frustration. 

"Well, that's a relief, but I was actually a little more worried about making something rather than catching something," Violet mumbled absently as a finger curled around a few strands of his fine hair until he began to pull himself away to get a better look at her. He looked concerned and Violet rolled her eyes. "Jesus, did your risk analysis fail to consider that possibility? That I could get knocked up? Thankfully college is a place full of wisdom and I know some home remedies. I'll make a shopping list for you to take," she whispered, shuddering as he pulled out from her completely, still giving her that nervous stare. Like he wasn’t going to take part in the plan. "Oh… are you, shit I didn't take you for the anti-choice type, but I gotta say for you that is really hypocritical-"

"What? No, that's not it! Shit, you could get an abortion every single day, I couldn't care less but that's not it. We can't have kids," Buddy stated as Violet propped herself up by her forearms. 

"Yeah, that's what I'm telling you too. Glad we are on the same page. So when can you get to a grocery store again because time is kind of the essence here," she said with a little more force but Buddy shook his head again. 

"I'm saying that you don't need to worry about you making any mini-mes, as it's literally impossible," Buddy continued and Violet blinked before trying to eye what he was working with. She hadn't considered that his injuries left him sterile. He recognized the assuming glances she gave his manhood and he lowered his head to achieve eye contact again. "You seriously don't know?" 

"Don't know what?"

Buddy licked his lips as he turned his head to the side. It would make sense that public education wouldn't tell her what the deal was, even before the piss poor funding could be accounted for, Violet was born not long after the Super Ban went into effect. He would have at least presumed her parents had talked about the birds and the bees, super edition. 

"Vi, our genes, they aren't compatible," he started hoping that she would interrupt him to let him know that she was schooled on the lesson but she still looked as clueless as ever. "Okay, so, you've got me, a normal, bland, human being, and then there is you, crazy, _attractive_ super who could split me in two with the flick of a wrist. On a biological level, I'm not even a blip on your baby maker. Your eggs won't recognize my little invaders as a viable option thanks to gametic isolation... Forget about being two different species, we might as well be of different classes or phylums. If you want a kid, realistically, you are going to have to adopt or get some other super to knock you up,” he said, seeing she had a counterpoint but he stopped that in its tracks. “Your situation though? Like you and your brothers? I know I've never seen anything like it. Usually, supers are born into normal families with a lottery ticket in hand, just winning at evolution."

Violet stared at Buddy as she began to piece his words together. She should have known that all along, right? Lucius didn't have any kids but she just presumed that he and Honey never tried for a family and when the supers were first reinstated by society she didn't get why the news crews made such a big deal out of her family. 'A family of supers!' reporters would always announce as if there was never a super family before. But there wasn't, was there? Because even before the Super Ban there was legislation prohibiting supers from producing with each other… Meaning that she was essentially illegal from birth. 

"Oh my God," Violet whispered before slamming herself back against the table, burying her face into her hands. "My life is a lie!" 

Buddy watched as the woman fell into an existential crisis. Unsure how to comfort the super he leaned back up to kiss her temple quickly before he gathered his clothes again. 

"I'm just going to go get Apple, but uhh… thanks for, you know, this," he mumbled as he buckled his pants again. "I really needed it and I think we should do it again sometime. I mean, fuck rule five, right? Unless you'd rather not- but obviously this isn't the time to talk about rule five… I'm, I'm going to go outside," Buddy said quickly as he made his way to the sliding door, leaving it open as he stepped outside in search of Apple. "Apple?! Come here girl! Please be a good distraction for daddy!"

Violet laid still on the table as she processed her reality. She thought the biggest bombshell of her day, or of her life, would have been fucking a man who could serve as a text book photo example of a serial killer, but not being able to have kids? She was by no means in a position to even want to bring in another life right now, but she thought of Tony again. He had wanted a family. Maybe if he had known that she couldn't provide those wishes he would have left her and he'd still be alive. 

Removing her hands from her face, Violet stared at the ceiling with contempt before looking to the watch on her wrist again. She loosened the strap, just to see if she could. Breathing a sigh of relief, Violet sat up and gathered her clothes. She needed a shower, along with a good stiff drink before she went over next week's mark. A mark that Buddy promised she could take on.

\---

"Okay, what about this one?" Buddy asked, tapping the computer monitor with the back of his pen. Before the pair was a picture of an elderly man who looked like he should be retired in the Sunshine State and not running a supply chain for heroin. "His estate is just one state over, security is a little lax because they managed to buy some local law enforcement and-" 

"And he's already got a foot in the grave and likely has passed on more responsibility to his kids so him getting dropped off as a major federal entity won't change a damn thing!" Violet muttered as she moved away. 

"Okay, what's the deal, Parr? You keep shooting down every target I've brought up tonight," Buddy stated as he turned the chair towards her. "They check all of your boxes! Hurting the community, always slipping through the NSA task forces for some reason, corrupt as hell- what am I missing here?!"

"You are holding out on me, that's what!" Violet said turned back to face him again and Buddy rolled his eyes. 

"I'm not holding out- I'm merely suggesting that we work our way up to that table," was Buddy's rebuttal. "Baby steps here, okay? If we go after the big names first you know what's going to happen? Hmm? The bad ol' boys I used to run with are going to stop and say 'gee whiz guys! Isn't it a coincidence that we just assaulted Pine and tried to steal that super and now our friends are getting snatched from their beds?'" 

"I'm pretty sure no villain starts off a sentence with 'gee whiz'," Violet retorted. Her eyes flashed back to the monitor and she gave a defeated sigh. She was pushing her luck again but he was right. Out of the two of them he was risking more than her. They get caught by the proper authorities, she goes home and he gets a few life sentences. Caught by the other folks? It would be a hell of a fight for sure, one neither could afford to lose, but as a turncoat, Buddy would be fortunate to get a hole in his head. 

"Roll back to that Harris guy," Violet started as she neared the desk again. "You said that he deals firearms to terrorists?"

"Ah, ah, ah, Harris deals firepower to white supremacists," Buddy corrected. "It's only terrorism is it upsets the status quo."

Violet nodded in bitter agreement. That was how the law liked to read it anyway. "So, what toys have you got for me to test before I visit this Eli Harris?" 

Buddy rubbed his hands together in excitement as he rose from his chair. "I'm so glad you asked! We obviously want to keep your powers on the down low, hopefully I can get that frequency right to mute the color of your force fields over the week but let's talk about the utility belt," he suggested as he passed it off to Violet who placed it on without question. "Okay so, going from left to right we've got a sonic disruptor, treat it like a laser pointer and that can temporarily jam nearly any piece of tech and that includes most of my weapons, anything with bullets is no bueno. Next you've got the smoke bombs but you are already familiar with those. We’ve got our fairly standard grappling hook, nothing fancy there save for the fact that it's embedded with my favorite earthy material which is very expensive so please don't lose it," Buddy warned before nodding to the other side of her belt. "Moving on we have your detainee kit. It contains a pair of cuffs, blindfold and a canister of knockout gas if your fists can't do the trick. That pistol there holds 16 rounds of my adhesive growing bullets- I once had a room filled with cannons that deployed those bad boys but if you have to use it go for the limbs, especially if that limb is holding a weapon. Last on the belt are three detonators which pack a pretty impressive blow in 15 seconds. I'd tell the average person to start running more but your shields can manage it for sure." 

Violet nodded as she ran her fingers across the belt. She wasn't sure why she was expecting more deadly items to be present but she was pleased for the primarily non lethal approach. "And my disguise?"

Holding up a finger Buddy withdrew again and moved to the other side of the room where he had a 3D printer installed. Opening up the compartment he removed a black matte helmet that was fashioned into the shape of a canine skull. Violet's jaw dropped and she moved to have a closer look.

"The lenses permit night vision based on the light sensors I've installed and I've also gone ahead to put in a two-way communication radio inside so we can be in constant contact," he said as he handed off the gear.

Violet slid the helmet over her head finding that it was a perfect fit. She gave it a few more seconds before removing the helmet to look at Buddy again, pleasantly surprised at it all. "I don't know what to say.”

“Thanks is a good start,” Buddy said with a smug grin as he leaned back against the printer. Violet nodded again as she continued to inspect the helmet, her fingers outlining the engraved teeth. He observed her with reserve as he questioned if what had transpired on the dining room table before was real or if it was all in his head, and if it was real could it happen again?

‘Hey, remember what happened with the last business partner you slept with? She threw you under the bus which resulted in a close call with a turbine engine. This one could do worse. So much worse if it goes south.’ 

“Did you want kids?” Buddy found himself asking. Violet’s eyes shot up baffled by the random question but quickly connected it to their conversation earlier. 

“At one point I thought about it,” Violet admitted as she set the helmet down onto the desk. “But it’s not like I have that option now.” She smirked and shook her head. “I had a one night stand with a sup a few years back, Leviathan. He mainly just floats around with telekinesis which is pretty neat but … he was such a narcissist! Going on how the city wouldn’t even be able to function without him, and I just, I don’t get it. Like yeah, we got powers and such and we can do a lot of great stuff with it but I totally get why population control measures were once in place because that rationale is crazy and adding superpowers into the mix? I’m shocked that there aren’t any supers who turned over!”

“That’s… not entirely true,” Buddy stated and Violet looked at him with an inquisitive eye. He was really giving her a crash course on supers today, but this factoid wasn’t exactly common knowledge. A hand motioned to the back of his neck and he rubbed at it, debating on how to word the reality. “I’ve hacked into the NSA servers a few times. Mostly to get the flags off of my accounts and move money without them even seeing but you know, when in Rome why not see the sights?” He said with a smile but there was that look of hesitance in his eyes. 

“What is it?” She asked, stepping forward. “What did you see.”

“I really shouldn’t say,” Buddy said as he moved to leave the room but Violet lifted up a shield to block his exit. That SAD chip sitting in his lockbox was looking rather nice right now but he already broke one rule today. He opened his mouth to reprimand the action but he was frozen in place by the look she was giving him. 

She wasn’t angry. She was scared. 

There was a first for everything and while he wanted her to give him that expression weeks ago the fact that the topic of the NSA made her look like a deer in headlights was all too telling. He turned back to the computer and leaned over the keyboard. It would be better if he showed her. They were still working on trust issues and he knew he had the deck always stacked against him. “The NSA likes to paint the picture that they are there for you guys, but like a lot of organizations, their roots are pretty dark,” he muttered as he pulled up the government servers. He’d have to make it quick as the longer he was in the more likely someone or something would notice him snooping around. “The reason why so many supers haven’t turned isn’t that the moral plain is high, it’s because they were deemed as flight risks and taken out-” he muttered as he pulled up a folder of classified files. 

Violet stared at the page with scrutiny, there wasn’t much to see except for names that she recognized and ones that she didn’t. He scrolled down and clicked on a folder labeled ‘Gerry A. Johnson’. “Who is that?”

“Somebody who flew a little too close to the sun,” Buddy muttered. “They never got their 15 minutes of fame because Nuclear powers when not controlled are pretty dangerous, especially if the sup holding them has a nasty temper. NSA took them out through executive decision-” 

“Executive?” Violet mirrored back and he nodded as he pulled up another file, one of a name that was vaguely familiar. ‘Gamma Jack’. 

“Full disclosure, one of my droids took him out but he was one of the top names on the NSA potential hit list. He really believed that your kind should be running things, master race and all,” Buddy stated as he pointed to a note on the man's file. 

‘NSA Recommends A-Level Monitoring’. 

“Mirage actually begged me not to invite him back because of the risks he brought, but I had to know if I could beat him along with some other personal shit… point being, if he so much as stepped in the wrong direction, he probably would have been put down too. The fact that he wasn’t taken out earlier is a little surprising but not when taking into account that his handler was a woman- and no, that isn’t my misogyny showing, this guy was just really good with the ladies. You are just going to have to take my word on that.”

Violet didn’t question it. There was clearly something personal about Gamma Jack but Violet had a slew of more pressing questions. She didn’t even have to ask for her family's files to be drawn up. Her dad made the list of potential threats, level C, and it was noted for being accident prone due to anger issues. She could attest to that. Her mother and Dash on the other hand were squeaky clean, which also wasn’t a shock with her mom being ‘mom’ and Dash was practically the poster boy for the NSA these days. 

“What about Jack-Jack?” Violet asked nervously and Buddy opened up his file. Jack-of-All-Trades was a flight risk given the range of abilities he carried but wasn’t presumed to be a person of malicious or accidental threats at this time. Violet gave a sigh of relief. Had the NSA been more hands on in his terrible-twos the file would certainly say otherwise. She looked back to Buddy’s face and he shook his head.

“We aren’t opening yours,” he calmly stated. 

“Are you kidding me?! Why the hell not?!” She shouted reaching for the mouse but he pulled his hand up and the device along with it. 

“It’s like a report card okay? You think you want to see what the teacher thinks about you but then you find out that Mrs. Lottenberg is a judgemental bitch who day drinks wine in a coffee cup because she thought she was going to be more in life so she takes it out on you,” Buddy said, trying desperately to lead the conversation to a whole new topic. “We can look at some other names if you want, like Leviathan! Let’s see what gossip they have on him.”

Violet reached for the mouse again and was tempted to use her powers against him but she still had some self-control. Or at least she thought she did. She backed away, putting Buddy at ease, but that was when she took advantage of the situation. With his grip loosened on the mouse she focused her force field to wrap around it and reeled it in. Before he could attempt to retrieve it again Violet made a field around her and moved the mouse on the palm of her other hand to pull up her file. 

“God damn it Violet! You can’t do that shit to me!” Buddy growled, kicking the dome in frustration. “What happened to being equals?”

“Call it reparations,” she spat back as she looked over her file. Violet tried to read the file with objectivity but it was hard to not be biased on something that was so critical on who she was. 

Trustworthy, curious and quick-witted were the words they used for her personality which she approved of greatly. She was labeled as MIA which was obvious to her but she was thrown off by everything else in her file. She was deemed as a B level threat. Buddy could see her demeanor shift.

“I told you so,” he muttered as he took his seat again.

“I don’t get it… I mean, I know I slipped up but that was an accident,” Violet whispered as she lowered her shields and put the mouse back in front of Buddy. “It was once and… and”

“It’s not because of the pier,” Buddy interjected. Violet looked at him in shock for knowing what she was talking about and she felt a stab of fear in her chest but he continued. “I’m not judging you. I honestly don’t even know what happened beyond what the papers had to say. I wasn’t there, and I’ve got my own series of Monday Morning Quarterback to play.” Taking the mouse again he began to exit the program, doing his best to clean his tracks on the way out. “Mistakes are one thing- but you're considered dangerous for two things. Your powers are a national security nightmare. Invisible, bulletproof and on the higher end of the IQ chart? Yeah- that’s a lot of red flags to these control freaks and to be honest you might only be labeled level B because you’re missing. But it could also be because of your curiosity and wanting to get into their ranks.”

“I want to help- why does that make me a threat?” Violet asked. 

“You might want revenge for what the government did. That’s the big fear,” Buddy stated. His gaze moved to the super again before he looked back to the computer. They had already been on the program too long, but he could deploy a virus to lead the programs to overlook it. But he shouldn’t. He really should learn to keep his mouth shut. “You ever wonder why your generation is lacking in supers? Why most public supers are a bit older than you or just entering puberty now?”

“Well you pointed that problem out pretty clearly before, but thanks for the reminder,” Violet said as she folded her arms. 

“It’s- it’s not about the anti-breeding,” he said, gaining her undivided attention again. Biting the inside of his cheek, he began to clack away at the keyboard again, setting up the virus to buy them more time. They were about to get into some deep shit and he wasn’t sure how she would respond to it. “What are your feelings about genocide? Or more specifically about those who commit the act?” He asked. Violet picked up on the wavering of his voice. He obviously fell into that department so it was clear that he had something to fear from her, but she didn’t understand why he was bringing this up. 

“Well… I know that controlling reproductive rights is by textbook definition genocide,” Violet said not entirely thrilled with the reality that her dream job was formally involved with barring who could have families and who couldn’t. “So I’m obviously not a fan.”

“Rather than prevention, what about elimination? What about those who participate in killing the living?” Buddy asked as their gazes met again. 

“It’s unforgivable,” Violet said without pause. He felt that answer in his core. He wasn’t going to deny her rage towards him and he wasn’t gonna take it personally either. But he would hold her to that standard from here on out.

“What I’m about to show you, it’s something that very few have had eyes on. We are talking tip-top, top-secret shit and I’m telling you right now that we can’t act on this,” Buddy started as he pulled up a file labeled ‘Super Rectification Act’. “I guarantee you that we have already stirred up some shit in the agency, and rightly so, but this can’t be a WatchDog thing, you have to promise me.”

“You’re kind of freaking me out,” Violet whispered as she moved closer to him. “What’s going on?”

“Promise me that this stays here. I would love nothing more than to burn down the NSA to the ground, I really would, but this has the potential of destroying civilization as we know it if it gets out. The super community will lose it’s fucking mind, and I’d prefer to not live through an uncivil race war, especially one that puts me on the losing side. If you can’t promise me that then I’m just going to have to hotwire that Memory Wipe machine I nicked from a NSA warehouse,” Buddy warned.

Violet was taken aback by how serious he was being. She read the name of the file again. Rectification meant correcting what was wrong, but Buddy was treating this like it was Pandora’s Box. Violet nodded quickly. “I promise.”

A promise was nothing to him. He broke promises all the time, but he knew that Violet had an honor system. He just had to hope she’d stick to it. Opening up the file, Buddy began to quickly roll through the reports not staying on a card for more than a few seconds. There was a decent amount to click through and most of them held disturbing images that shouldn’t be seen by anyone. 

While Buddy was going through the files faster than she wanted it didn’t take Violet long to figure out why. It was on the seventh card that Violet picked up on what she was looking at. Confirmed assassination reports and the targets weren’t just supers. They were children. Children with powers. Some no older than two at the time of death, which was the age when powers really began to show. 

Violet stepped back from the monitors and drew her hands over her mouth. The cause of death varied from victim to victim, photos displaying the corpses were attached to the documents. They were black and white, but all Violet saw at this point was red. 

Red, and dead kids. 

“Set up a chamber for me,” Violet whispered. Buddy obeyed without missing a beat, moving his mouse to another monitor to open up a training exercise for her.

“What do you want?” He asked as she removed the utility belt from her waist, shaking violently.

“I don’t care, throw everything in, just give me something!”

“Chamber three, go to number three,” Buddy ordered as he slammed the keys as quickly as he could and Violet left, her force fields practically radiating off of her. Buddy cursed out loud. What the fuck was he thinking when he considered showing her this? 

He didn’t have a clue. He didn’t have a fucking clue. He just knew that he had created a very unstable super. 

  
  
  
  
  



	18. Pyromania

Buddy stood in the catwalk between chambers three and four as he observed Violet continue to throw her force fields around the urban environment. The robots had stopped filing in hours ago. She had completely wiped out his supply of expendable droids and even dipped into his reserve supply for clients. 

He held a glass of bourbon with a vice grip as his other hand was shoved deep into his pocket, rolling the syringe between his fingers that contained the rice-sized SAD microchip that would help him sleep a little easier at night. A few weeks ago, Buddy would say he knew what rage was. That he ran on rage and coffee, but as he watched Violet spend all of her energy he knew he couldn’t compete with her. 

Yeah, he had daddy issues. Sure, he was jaded and the world fucked him over, nearly killed him too- but he could say to some degree that he had helped forge that shitty road where Violet was just lucky that she managed to cross the highway unscathed. 

Until now of course. 

He should have kept his dumb fucking mouth shut. His old man used to tell him not to touch anything because he had a habit of turning it to shit. Blamed him for his failings in life, his ailing wife and even for the shitty weather. Buddy fondly recalled the day that his mother died because it was also the last day his father ever darkened his doorway, but even now as he stood alone in the hallway he could feel that shadow over him, hear his old man’s chain smoking voice in his ear. 

_ “Turned that one to shit too, didn’t ya boy?” _

Buddy raised the glass to his lips again, savoring the thing that poisoned him. 

Violet finally ended her rampage but he didn’t dare disturb her. It was a painful lesson to learn that there was no one worth trusting, he was fortunate to learn it early in life. He had a hard time normally connecting to folks, a harder time actually trying to pretend he was even remotely interested in what they had to say, but seeing the super drowning in pain, he’d say that he empathized with her. 

He just wished that he wasn’t the harbinger of the truth. 

Violet’s head lifted up and Buddy went as still as stone, waiting for her to start the cycle all over again or maybe curse him for feeding her the apple. If he was lucky she was going to ask him to remove the memory from her and maybe he could start the clock over again, before the night of the merger party. He could just drop her off on Robert Parr’s doorstep and make Violet’s disappearing act the unsolvable mystery of her life. 

But he couldn’t do that either. Like it or not, he was to a degree responsible for her life now. There were clearly a few villains who saw her as an asset to their operations but he was now more concerned about the government agency that swore to look out for her wellbeing as a super. 

“I don’t understand!” Violet cried out. He couldn’t see her tears, but he heard how strained her voice was. “Why?! They killed children! Fucking children!”

Buddy nodded and looked down as he pulled his hand from his pocket and hit the intercom button to speak to her. 

“The ends were justified by means. Mitigating potential risks, saving taxpayer money, preventing a generation bent on retaliation,” Buddy stated calmly. “I only stumbled upon the report while trying to erase my own files.”

Violet ran her hands through her hair, grasping the silky mane at the roots as she released a furious cry. Buddy waited for her to collect herself again, though he wasn’t sure if that was possible. 

“This can’t be real,” she cried out.

“It is. You know I hate to be the one to tell you this, Parr, but the world isn’t just puppies and kittens,” he called, catching a hollow sob from the woman inside. “But I can take that reality away from you if you want,” Buddy offered, his finger still on the button. “We can rewind as far back as you want. A day, a week, a month, a year,” Buddy said watching as Violet rubbed at her eyes until they were raw. 

“I don’t fucking trust you,” Violet called back and he smirked in response. 

“And you shouldn’t, but I do mean it. You say the word and we make what you are feeling go away,” he coaxed gently but the super continued to try to work through what she saw. 

“What about their families? Some of those kids were old enough to go to school, have friends, had a life!” 

Buddy shrugged at the query. “What can I tell you? Uncle Sam will spare no expense at trying to make people forget or create elaborate cover ups but can’t give a nickel toward a program for understanding change,” Buddy mused. “That’s why I’m able to walk down Mainstreet now. Erased from the public eye and presumed dead by the private, though I gotta say I kinda wish someone higher up would have condemned my actions on national television. It’d be the ultimate pot calling the kettle black scenario.”

Violet’s eyes continued to burn with hot tears. “How can you ask me to forget something like this? The world needs to know-”

“I told you, Parr, this is the one rabbit hole we don’t go down,” Buddy said as he held the nearly empty glass to his temple. “And I’m offering you something that has probably never been afforded to you before. A choice. The choice to be the miserable super that you are now, the sassy little bitch that you were a week ago, the naive woman you were a month ago, or, if you really want we can just clean out the whole inventory and start from scratch. No more Invisigirl or Violet Parr. A truly fresh start,” Buddy presented as he thought about the syringe that sat in his pocket. 

Violet couldn’t even begin to consider the request. Everything that she had done for nearly the last decade had all been to try to enter that pit of snakes. “How the fuck did I manage to survive? And my brothers? I know I got us moved at least once,” Violet asked. It was a question Buddy couldn’t answer, but he did have a decent hypothesis. 

“I’m willing to bet my bottom dollar that Dicker covered your asses,” Buddy replied before he finished what was left in his glass. “I can’t say that I’m a fan, but clearly, he is one of the good ones.”

“Does he know about that program then? Do my parents know?!”

He was getting tired of these questions. Any other topic was more appealing than this because of how little he knew and the fact he did not want to touch this shit show with a ten-foot pole. Setting the old fashioned glass on the floor for one of his sweeper droids to dispose of, Buddy walked away from the intercom system and made his way to enter the chamber. She was still pretty unstable, but he could hear how tired she was too.

The metal sliding doors opened and Buddy took a few steps in, still keeping his distance. He had done the math and as of now she had a ‘kill’ range of 100 yards, but with half that distance between them, Buddy was confident he could avoid getting maimed. 

“I don’t know. I doubt it, but I don’t know for sure,” he said as he burrowed his hands into his pockets again. “Look. You don’t have to decide right now, but this can all go away. I’m only trying to help.”

“Then help me with this!” Violet shouted as she shakily rose to her feet. “Help me make this right!”

“And watch the surviving supers of the country, possibly even the world, descend into the same fury you've got now? Absolutely not!” Buddy said as he closed the distance between them. “Breaking this story, putting away the people responsible for that program or the agents who carried out their orders- who does that help? What good does that do? I mean, what you are suggesting isn’t justice, Parr. It’s revenge. That’s not your style, it’s mine.”

Violet turned away and searched the rubble she had created for an answer. She didn’t know what to do. All she felt was anger and most of it was directed at him for everything he had put her through. The kidnapping, the villains club, for giving her hope for a brief moment in time and now this. Showing her this unspeakable crime that would go unpunished. 

“What if we find the names, the people in charge,” Violet asked, turning back to him. “I can carry this burden, but only if I know that the people responsible are gone and can’t hurt anyone anymore!”

“Do you have any idea what you are asking here? Like really asking?” Buddy asked as he brought his hands to his temples and pointed them her way. “For all we know, a president, former or maybe even a current sitting president could have okayed this program at some point in time. You can’t have it, so either let it go or let yourself go.”

“What the hell are you scared of? Honestly, what do you have to lose?” Violet questioned and Buddy rolled his eyes at the super’s arrogance.

“Let’s see, what is keeping me from this suicide mission? For starters, I like living, I like it a lot. I would say that I even live for it! I’ve got a pretty good job and a really great side hustle too. I’m pretty happy with my estate, there’s an island out there that still belongs to me, and not to mention I’ve got another mouth to feed or did you forget about Apple?”

“What can I do to convince you that this is the right thing to do?! Name it and I'll try to make it work! I'll take away rule five if you just help!” Violet urged and Buddy couldn’t help but laugh.

“Sweetheart, first rule of business. You don’t buy the cow when the milk is free, and what an easy glass of milk you were,” he drawled without thinking. Violet’s face turned red. Buddy hadn’t even the time to consider the words he chose when she struck him across the face with an open hand. He remained still as waited for a follow-up blow but Violet strode past him instead. Massaging the tender cheek he nodded to himself. He deserved that. 

“Where are you going?” Buddy asked as he turned to watch her retreating form.

“Anywhere away from you to start! Then maybe I’ll take a trip to Westberg and start investigating on my own!”

Buddy lolled his head back in frustration. 

‘You’re responsible for her, remember?’

“Parr, you’re being stupid,” Buddy called as he hurried after her, cutting her off before the elevator. “Humor me for a moment, alright? In your imaginary world, what would you do to the folks responsible, hmm? I mean they’ve got lives obviously. Might be married with kids, grandkids. Are you really going to murder them? And let’s say by some fucking miracle you do it. You got every major player in that act and haven’t been caught. What do you do then? Because Vi, I gotta tell ya, somebody would eventually figure out that, you, the invulnerable see-through super with a B-Level rate security threat, have been missing for quite some time, and following your disappearance, high ranking officials are dropping like flies! How can anyone not see the connection there? And do you honestly think that an organization that had no problem killing kids for prevention purposes wouldn’t retaliate? Fuck whatever plans I schemed to off your family! I guarantee you that some covert ops force would have a field day trying to break your family in some black site overseas.”

Violet clenched her jaw. He brought up a valid point. She didn’t care if she got caught, she was willing to throw her life away long before she got a look behind the curtain, but her family? She couldn’t risk bringing any harm to them. 

“We could fake my death,” Violet suggested quietly. She hated that she even suggested the idea, but seeing that ad in the paper earlier- maybe closure would be the best thing for everyone.

Buddy gave her a critical look before his brow softened. Gears were shifting in his head. That could actually work in his favor. Regardless of Violet’s pipe dream, that would clear up a lot for his life as James Everett. A smile ran across his lips as he grabbed her arms. 

“That dress you wore when I brought you here, what did you do with it?” Buddy asked with enthusiasm. 

“My dress? … I think I left it in one of the lockers actually,” Violet whispered and Buddy released her to inspect the locker room they had just left. From outside, Violet could hear the man ripping the doors open in search of her discarded clothes. A swear or disgruntled growl erupting from the room after each clank until he came to lucky locker 11 where an orchid-colored dress laid crumpled on the bottom shelf. 

“BINGO! Violet, get in here and drag that thing through the dirt,” Buddy called as he moved aside and scrolled through his watch, searching his inbox for a single email from Sardonic but was happy to see that the bastard had sent him several dozen angry follow-ups over his incomplete order. “Ooooh this is just too good!”

Violet entered the locker room again, confused as to why he was so on board with her plan now. Moving to the locker she picked up the garment and held it in her hands before casting her eyes on him but his back was to her. 

"What are you plotting over there?" 

"Killing two birds with one stone, almost literally," Syndrome replied as he quickly tapped in an overly apologetic response to the irate client. "Hey, by chance were you a drama geek in highschool?" He asked as he looked over his shoulder at the half naked woman but quickly averted his gaze when she glanced his way again. 

"Sort of? I was more of a behind the scenes kind of kid- can't do leading roles when you're a super, right?"

Buddy opened his mouth to disagree as he vaguely recalled a super who was in show business while working the streets but he recalled that the hero wasn't much cared for by the public. "The Phylange," he mumbled partly to himself and Violet paused at the name.

"My dad hated that guy- still brings up rumors about him!"

"Well I killed him so guess your dad kinda owes me one," Syndrome stated back and Violet shook her head.

"You know it is possible to not like someone and also respect their right to live," Violet mumbled and Syndrome gave her a questioning look. 

"Remind me again why you want to fake your death?" 

Violet glared at him before sending her eyes to the floor. "That's totally different."

"Is it?” He asked as he looked over his shoulder to look at the super. “Because it still sounds like murder to me."

"I hate you so fucking much," Violet muttered before entering the chamber again with the dress in hand.

"Make sure you really get the dirt in there, maybe give it some rips too!" He called back as he waited for Sardonic to respond and it didn't take long. The lowly criminal responded within minutes. He was demanding more compensation for having to wait so long and Syndrome agreed. Putting those sentiments into words, he also added the meeting place for Sardonic to pick up his arsenal of weapons. Now all he had to do was load the order he had packed up last week into the hovercraft and figure out how well Violet could play along- but maybe he could work his way around it and give the super the rest of the night off. 

"So what is this all about?” Violet questioned as she made her way back into the locker room with the sullied dress. Pleased with the sight, Syndrome nodded as he took her by the wrist and pulled her back out towards the elevator. 

"Well, we are going to try to make it look like you died due to negligence by my least favorite client, see if WatchDog can sell it to the media, and see if the officials are forced to buy it."

"Who is your least favorite client?"

"Does it matter?"

"Well I would really hate for my last chapter as Violet Parr to be taken out by someone like Sardonic." 

"It's Sardonic."

Stepping into the elevator Buddy's eyes were ahead and Violet's gaze was set on the floor. 

"I want to pursue this, Buddy. I mean it. I can't just sit this one out. I need to at least to know why."

Buddy didn't reply. The doors to the elevator opened again and they walked out side by side until Violet was cutting him off and though he was looking at Violet he felt as though he was looking in the mirror. That rage was so familiar but again, he couldn't compare the pain of rejection to surviving annihilation. 

"There is no good ending to this, Violet. It's just going to be you in a body bag and me, well I'm not touching this so maybe I'll return to Nomanisa."

"I'm already throwing my life away and you've been untouched by the NSA from the get-go! If anybody could make this work it's you!"

"I've survived this long because I've been careful. Do you want to know what the most reckless thing I've done in the last ten years is? It’s you. The answer is no," Buddy stated as he turned for the kitchen. He had to calm her down before he could do anything else. "Just sit for a minute. We need to get some blood from you and I'd feel better if you were hydrated first." 

Buddy held his breath as he scrolled through the beverage options. There was a secret menu on here. One that had the ingredient Rufinol. It was something he had installed shortly after Violet had arrived but had yet to use it. Taking the drug laced water in hand, Buddy returned to Violet's side and handed her the water. 

"Thanks," she muttered before she chugged the glass about halfway, soothing the throat she had vexed from her breakdown. "You asked about me being involved in a drama club… why?"

"Because in order to sell a part of this story, your presence is necessary. Sardonic is going to be nothing but ash before the night is out, and that’s going to be the presumed case for you too. I’ve got enough voicemails from the asshole to splice a fake recording. I’m going to need you to read from a script.”

“I can ad lib it now while we wait for your robonurse to take my blood,” Violet said as she finished off the water. 

“Authentic would be a good play, but I’m going to need you to be calm to stay on track.”

“I’m fine, really. I can do this.”

“It’s better if we have it scripted.”

The medical droid rolled into the room, distracting both of them briefly. Shaking her head, Violet set the empty glass aside and began to roll up her sleeve. She wasn’t feeling that great, pretty lightheaded, but it had been a few years since she had a cry like that. How many times was she going to experience her world falling apart? Glancing back up towards the robot she gave a nod. 

“What’s the hold up, let’s go already!”

“We need to wait for the drugs to kick in.”

Violet's eyes widened. She turned away in an attempt to purge her system but Syndrome was already on top of her, holding her down. She tried to summon her force fields but the connection was muddled with the roofies.

"I'm going to kill you!" 

"And I absolutely believe that you will one day! But right now we need to fake your death.”

“You’re a bastard.”

“I know.”

"You haven't told me your plan."

"You don’t need to know."

"That doesn't leave me with confidence that this is a good idea!"

"It's a great idea,” Syndrome said a little more gently. “All you need to know is that no one, NSA, family or other interested parties will be looking for you again."

"What are my parents going to think happened to me?"

"Go to sleep, Parr."

“Do you really think I’ll kill you?” Violet asked as her voice began to slur. Buddy smirked as he pulled himself off from her. 

“You might not pull the trigger so to speak, but I think you’re capable of being the catalyst of my ending. At the rate we are going, you’re going to piss off either my old friends enough for them to come back around, or we are going to be the NSA’s most wanted without publicly being their most wanted.”

“If you believe that then why are you helping me with the WatchDog project?”

The question made the man pause. It was a valid inquiry. 

“I’d say because old habits die hard? Because there is a very small part of me who wants to be a good sidekick, partner or I don’t know what to call it. I’d also say because I’ve got a lot of bones to pick with a lot of people... I’m a creature of opportunity? I don’t know what you want to hear from me.”

“I want to know why you picked my dad.”

Buddy sighed heavily as he began to prep the medical droid to draw her blood. 

“All the supers had catchphrases and slogans they’d sell to the kids. Marketing should be regulated like prescription drugs if you ask me because… damn. Could they sell magic beans back in the day. Your old man’s message to the kids was as generic as they got. ‘Be true to yourself!’” he said in the worst Mr.Incredible impression either of them had ever heard.

Violet snorted and Buddy chuckled as well. 

“Right?! You hear that shit now when your brain is fully formed and it’s like, ‘OK super,’ but as a kid, man, they all just made everything seem possible. Like no bad would ever come to you if you stayed on the right track, or that you could make a difference in the world but your dad was the coolest! He didn’t care what anybody thought about him, beat the bad guys to a pulp and let some of the mouthier supers have it too, verbally anyway.”

“What were your parents like?”

Buddy didn’t want to answer that question. He turned his head over his shoulder to see how close she was to dozing off but she still looked pretty conscious. She was actively trying to push through the chemical induced sleep. Abandoning the droid he moved back to Violet’s position and knelt before her.

“You need to stop fighting this and go to sleep, Parr. By the time you wake up you’ll be in your room and I’ll even bring you breakfast in bed.”

Violet was struggling to keep her eyes open, but she didn’t want to sleep. Not yet. Not after she saw those files. She was already pretty susceptible to nightmares but if she didn’t dream about the Pier it was going to be Rick Dicker drowning kids in bathtubs.

“What school did you go to?”

“Go to sleep.”

“Where’s your family?”

“Please. Sleep.”

“Please, give me something else to think about! I don’t want to forget what they did, but I just want something else on my mind before I go.” 

“I can’t help you there, Parr. I’ve got no happy stories to tell,” he said as he stood up and turned away again. She’d only be able to fight so much longer after all, it might be better to treat the situation as a parent might neglect a toddler. It was a terrible decision however because the super was still able enough to move. She managed to get to her feet but crumpled to the floor within seconds of standing. Turning back around, Buddy muttered a curse under his breath and took a few steps to stand over the stubborn super, observing the fresh tears that streaked her cheeks.

_ ‘You turn everything you touch to shit, Bud.’ _

Buddy knelt down beside the super only now realizing what he had done. The number one choice drug of predators and rapists didn’t just induce drowsiness and sleep. It was a depressant, and the super was already depressed. Passed that station a while ago and was really gearing for the slot of a suicidal martyr. 

“I hate you,” she mumbled as she laid on the carpeted floor. 

“I know,” he whispered back as he gathered the woman into his arms and made his way back to his preferred seat in the living space. Sitting down, Buddy held Violet against him, waiting for the woman to give in. Chances where she wouldn’t recall anything beyond this point when she woke up tomorrow and the syringe in his pocket began to feel a little heavier.

“My mom was a librarian,” he started. Violet’s head raised ever so slightly her eyes wide. Not with interest necessarily but from the chemicals that flooded her system. “I think you would have adored her, though she’d had a lot to say about how you treat books. Breaking their spines, slapping them down, dog earring the pages- out of the two of us she might see you as the bigger villain here.”

“She’s biased,” Violet mumbled back and Buddy nodded. 

“Yeah. She was,” he agreed. This was a road he didn’t like to go down yet she managed to steer him down it. She had a real knack for making him do things he didn’t want, he was just lucky it wasn’t a minor power of hers to be influential. “She’d let me get away with murder back then too. Only instead of taking out supers I was disassembling anything with a circuit. Toaster ovens, televisions, the refrigerator, cars, nothing was safe from me… I was five when I took apart the tv for the first time. Turned the thing into a giant radio instead, picked up chatter from everywhere. The town next over, the next state over, all the way out to New Urbem, even got some submarine chatter,” Buddy said with a smirk at the memory. “She thought it was pretty neat. She asked me if we could send out some messages, though she didn’t really want to communicate to the stars. She only wanted to share the song ‘I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire’ to anyone listening but I didn’t have the equipment to accomplish that back then.”

“You could do it now.”

Buddy glanced at Violet, expecting to see that dark eyes reflecting back at him but she was looking off to the side. She was here and yet she was so far away. 

_ ‘You ruined a perfectly good piece of work, and for what?!’ _

“I could,” Buddy parroted back, ignoring his father’s voice. He could. 

“How does the song go?” Violet asked in a daze.

“You really don’t want to hear me sing-”

“Please?”

Christ- he knew he couldn’t carry a tune- but she wasn’t going to remember this anyway, right? Maybe he’d be so bad that she’d sober up and his fuck up could become water under the bridge he so loved to burn. Licking his lips he pulled the lyrics from his memory. 

_ I don't want to set the world on fire _

_ I just want to start a flame in your heart _

_ In my heart I have but one desire _

_ And that one is you _

_ No other will do _

_ I've lost all ambition for worldly acclaim _

_ I just want to be the one you love _

_ And with your admission that you feel the same _

_ I'll have reached the goal I'm dreaming of _

_ Believe me _

_ I don't want to set the world on fire _

_ I just want to start a flame in your heart _

  
  


Buddy caught himself singing the lyrics to the lost relic of his childhood. He looked down to Violet again, breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of her being out cold. It would be just some lucid dream to her, and he’d deny ever singing it to her.

A hand combed through her hair as he continued to hum the melody. Holding the super close to his chest he considered the possibility of constructing something for his dear old mum. He had the parts to do it, but why would he? She was dead. Long gone, and she had raised him to question everything around him, including the good book.

He didn’t believe in any powers being higher than the ones on earth, and he was willing to bet that heaven wasn’t a thing. If there was a hell however he’d have a first class ticket to go there. That was no doubt. 

Standing up again, Buddy carried Violet back to the couch that she frequently devoured books on and laid her down. He took out the syringe and observed it momentarily. This was likely the best opportunity he had to deploy the fail-safe. Inject it into her now and not have to fear that Violet would go AWOL on him, or that if by some chance someone else caught her he’d be able to track her down again- that she wouldn’t kill him. 

Putting the syringe back into his pocket he pulled the medical bot over and began the program to take the super’s blood all while wondering what he regretted most of this day and what was most likely going to come back and bite him in the ass.

\---

Violet didn't see the pier in her sleep. She didn't dream of men in suits killing kids either. 

She dreamt rather ambiguously. She dreamed about satellites, chain link fences, test sites and robots. Of an island that could have been paradise and of a man who wanted to set the world on fire, but didn’t. 

Opening her eyes, Violet laid still as she tried to recall how she ended up in this bed. Yesterday had started off so well too. 

WatchDog was a hit with the press, Buddy had given her a device to make anything go invisible with her, and then… she had sex for the first time in a few years. With him. It was good, but everything went downhill from there.

She sat up and looked to the doorway, expecting to see someone walking in with a tray of food but it remained clear. Pulling herself out of bed, Violet made her way out of the room to revisit a very important conversation. 

She expected to find him in the kitchen, but he wasn’t there. She didn’t find him in his sanctum, den, nor his bedroom either. Stepping outside she found his hovercraft was still parked, and the garage still had his car as well. Violet wondered momentarily if he had managed to steal her powers while she slept but turning to go back in the house she saw Buddy sitting on the roof, constructing what looked to be a satellite dish. 

Casting a shield underneath her feet, Violet navigated the force field to carry her up to the rooftop and stepped down beside the crouched down engineer. 

“What are you doing?”

“A pet project,” he mumbled back. He didn’t sleep last night, that much was evident by the bags around his eyes. “Sardonic has been taken care of, did you see the script I left you in the kitchen?”

“No, I was too busy looking for you. And the breakfast in bed you promised me.”

Buddy smirked and looked to the woman with indifference. “I honestly thought you wouldn’t remember that… What else do you remember?”

“I remember you promising to help me catch bad guys,” Violet started. Buddy turned his gaze away and continued to work on the mini dish with a scowl on his face. 

“Really? Because I remember you promising me that you wouldn’t make this a WatchDog thing.”

“Yeah, well you promised me breakfast in bed so I guess we’re even.”

Buddy sneered at the comeback. Setting his tools down he turned to face the super as he rose to his feet again. 

“I’m sorry, let me make that up to you right now. What do you want? Eggs, oatmeal, pancakes? Or is it going to take something a little bigger for you to drop this, like a memory wipe?”

“This isn’t right! Like you said we’ve got no idea who was involved in this- those people could still be doing this!”

“No, the program shut down the day that supers were deemed legal again. I’d be pissed if I was a kid that got cut down the morning of the last day. That would be rough, but not nearly as rough as ending up in a government sanctioned torture cell,” he muttered as he gathered his tools and moved to the edge of the house and stepped off. 

Violet gasped and ran to the edge, ready to deploy a force field to catch him but found that Buddy was descending towards the ground like he was walking down a staircase. He stopped to cast a look back at the woman and smirked knowingly before he got down to solid earth and showed off the soles of his shoes to show a dim light emitting from them. Gravity, in his personal experience, was overrated. 

Violet made her way down as well, creating a slide with her force field to land in front of the man. 

“I’ll make you a deal. For each name that you give me that is involved with that horror show I’ll take out one of your former guild peers. You’ll never have to look over your shoulder again and when we are done you can even rule the criminal underground if you want.”

“Oh, Wowwee! You shouldn’t have, Parr! Gosh, crown me the King of Crime? Golly, that’s a really nice gesture but there is just one teeny problem- I DON’T WANT IT!” Buddy said before shoving past a stunned Violet to enter the garage to store his tools away. “Fucking around with the Crime Lords and the NSA? You really are a glutton for punishment!”

“I thought you wanted to get back at those jerks? And to make more money?!”

“Oh I do, Parr, that objective hasn’t changed. With our original mutual agreement we were going to target the little guys first and maybe work our way up. The absolute last thing I want at this point in time however is you showing up on any of their doorsteps.”

“You don’t think I could beat them?” 

Buddy threw a wrench into a drawer and spun back to meet the super’s face again. 

“I think you are on a warpath without thinking, okay?! I think that Violet Parr is angry at the world and rather than actually considering the consequences of her actions she is ready to barrel down to her own grave!”

“Says the guy who ran a murder island because he didn’t get a job as a sidekick,” Violet growled back and Buddy nodded enthusiastically. 

“Yes! That’s exactly what I’m saying! I did that and you know what I learned? It is so much better operating in the background than getting up on the main stage! I bit more than I could chew and I nearly got snuffed out, and maybe you are looking for an easy way out but trust me, this, is not it.”

“Like you actually care how I go out- You’re just worried about this blowing back on you-”

“Yeah, Parr, I am worried about that! I’m worried that you’ll slip up and be picked off by the NSA after all the work I’ve done to cover you up. I’m worried that you’ll go rogue and think you can take on one of the head honchos of the criminal underground and end up in Argentina.”

“What do I have to do to prove that I can do this! I’ve taken on everything you’ve thrown at me… Do I have to beat you to show that I’m capable?”

“I don’t want to fight you, Parr. I know all your moves. You wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“Then let’s do it.”

“What?” Buddy asked as Violet walked away. “Parr, wait a second there-”

“If I win, I get to hunt down the bastards who are responsible for the rectification assassinations, and if you win I drop it,”

“No,” Buddy stated firmly. Violet turned her hateful gaze at him and he approached her, producing a syringe from his pocket. She tilted her head in question. “If you win, we’ll try it out. We’ll look for the founders of that program and I’ll help you take them out. Even pull the trigger so your hands stay clean if you want it. But if I win, this chip goes into your neck and I remove your memory of the NSA bullshit I dropped on you. Those are my terms, do we have a deal.”

Violet looked at the syringe, livid and left wondering how long he had been carrying that around for. But it was before her, not in her, and she still had memories of last night. Meeting his gaze Violet nodded. 

“Deal. Let's go. Right now."

Buddy rolled his eyes and pocketed the SAD chip back into his pocket. 

"No. Not right now. You are still under the influence and I didn't get any sleep. I’m fine with fighting dirty but dishing out blows now would be just stupid. And besides, we still need to wrap up your death. So, get to reading that script and then we'll talk about this match,” he said before going back to his tools. He still felt Violet standing behind him and he didn’t know what had prompted the question, the thirst for knowledge of what he was going up against or sleep deprivation but he had to ask the question he had been avoiding since her break down. He faced her again and swallowed.

“What happened at the pier?”

Violet looked down in shame as she held herself. She didn’t think he’d ever care enough to ask, but it was a fair question given the circumstance. She just didn’t think she could tell it all.

“I lost control,” Violet confessed. “It was supposed to be just a regular day. It was a regular day… I was on a date with Tony and-”

“The Triplet’s Mayhem tried to kidnap the mayor’s daughter,” Buddy said for her and Violet nodded.

“It all happened so fast. They had machine guns and there was a helicopter. They just started spraying and so I did what I do best-”

“You used your shields,” Buddy said, filling in the blank. The papers didn’t give specifics. Only said that all the civilian victims were shot.

“I used my shields. I didn’t think of it until it was too late. The bullets ricochet and-” Violet was surprised to find herself in a comforting embrace but the words were falling from her mouth as fast as her tears now. “I couldn’t stop it-! There were so many people so I had to lower my guard and that’s when I saw him.”

Violet’s hands clutched at Buddy’s shirt, balling up the material with all her might as she dragged herself through the rest of the story, not registering the hand that was cradling the back of her head. 

“I didn’t even get to say goodbye, or sorry, I couldn’t tell him that I loved him. He was just gone because I was focused on protecting myself- so I just lost it. Went berserk you know?”

Buddy had seen what she could do in the ring with rage. It was pretty gruesome stuff, and like proper journalists they left out the gruesome stuff to pass the breakfast test but he figured he could piece the story together for himself.

“I’m sorry, Violet.”

“It’s all my fault-” 

“It was an accident,” Buddy whispered back as his hand began to stroke her hair as he mulled over all the lives he claimed over the years. He was sure some robot of his malfunctioned at some point in time that killed or maimed a bystander- but as far as he was concerned he killed with purpose and extreme prejudice. “You didn’t mean it, it wasn’t your fault, and you didn’t let any of the bad guys get away.”

“You got away,” she mumbled into his shirt and he snorted air through his nose. 

“I did, didn’t I?”

She nodded her head against his chest before looking up again. She was asking the question without opening his mouth. Had she not just bore her horror show to him he would have just said it was a story for another day but the tale of his survival wasn’t that thrilling really.

“If you must know, after your father threw the car I ended up in the turbine of my manta jet and the blades were sucking in my cape, and damn I was always a sucker for capes too. It was a do or die or a do and still die scenario anyway so I kicked off my rocket boot and that triggered the explosion.”

“You made your boot detachable but not your cape?” Violet asked as she rubbed at her eyes and he nodded. 

“It’s a pretty dumb design flaw I’ll admit, but even without the cape I would have ended up in that turbine. Anyway, the landing was pretty rough. Used my Zero Point Energy lasers to coast me towards the ground at a pace that wouldn’t kill me and I called up my dear Argentinian friend to make me as good as new. And that’s how I didn’t die.”

“And that’s how you didn’t die,” Violet mirrored back and the two stood still, taking it all before Buddy moved his hand from the back of Violet’s head and underneath her chin, lifting it up ever so gently. 

“Now, let’s go convince everyone that you are dead.”

  
  


  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super big shoutout to KiraTainer for being a beta reader. I'm hoping I can continue to post on a weekly basis, and I've essentially got the next three chapters in a solid draft and can continue to edit and write in between classes. 
> 
> I've written some fics before this one and normally I have a nasty habit of falling off the edge or forgetting the map I planned in my head but that's not happening here. I'm not exactly sure how many it will equal out to, but I'm guestimating that Identity Complex will have 26 chapters in grand total, give or take depending on how scenes end up flowing or if an epilogue ends up making its way in. 
> 
> Truly thankful for all the support on this fic. I know that the Synlet community is a lonely one and has some great unfinished stories (I'm looking at you No Longer the Villain... and my own drabble from years past on FF.net) BUT I am not letting this one go unfinished!
> 
> Much love and be safe out there!


	19. Cyclic Vomiting

Rick Dicker sat in his office with a stack of files before him. They were all profiles related to Violet Parr's alter ego and the enemies that she had faced off against. She didn't have any arch-nemesis, at least not that he was aware of- though she did get some concerning fan mail when she was active. Men and even the occasional woman were writing all the things they would do to her if she ever gave them a chance. Some letters were tastefully put, trying to romance the super and whatnot. Others however were not. She was never given access to those letters and while Rick didn't make many arrests in his division he always made it a point to be on the scene for those interrogations whenever there was a repeat writer. 

"Dicker," called a rookie from the hall. Agent Kent. A good kid overall who would eventually become the main POC for the Incredible family. "You gotta see this."

The pair made their way down the hall towards the building's break room. He didn't know what the hell could be so damn important in there. Maybe he was being forced into retirement and the administration was sending that message with a party. 

Stepping into the room, Dicker was relieved to see only a few souls sitting in the room with their bagged lunches. He wasn't sure what Kent was trying to show him until he eyed the small television tucked into the far corner ceiling. 

"-with the assistance of WatchDog, police were able to obtain evidence directly related to the missing person case of 26-year-old Violet Parr, an intern at DevTech Enterprises. Parr tragically lost her life in a villainous deal gone wrong…"

You had to have a strong heart for this line of work, but Rick Dicker felt his ticker crumble and crack in his chest. He grabbed hold of the wall and shook his head in disbelief. 

"Call the news stations to put a stop to the story, we need to get ahead of this. I'll get in touch with the family, God willing they haven’t already seen the news."

  
  


\---

Buddy sat in his DevTech office, patiently waiting for the news to finally sink in. As WatchDog, he had sent out a tip to local authorities concerning the disappearance of one Violet Parr and the media had put it out the minute that they had the story. 

At 2358 hours on Saturday night, there was an explosion that took down the abandoned flour mill factory outside of the city. It was where Buddy had sent Sardonic to pick up his 'reward'. The amount of explosives that were packed into the delivery droid didn't leave so much as a shred of the perpetual thorn that was known as Sardonic. In the early hours of this fine morning, he had sent another delivery drone to Sardonic’s place of residence to plant the blood-covered dress that Violet was last seen in and had dropped off a flash drive to local police containing plans of a trade-off of a pretty young woman to an unknown buyer, along with a spliced recording of this fake deal that introduced a generic male voice, the nasally pitch of Sardonic, and the talented leading lady herself, a mumbling and threatening Violet Parr.

It was just after 10 in the morning when HR sent out an email to the staff concerning the news. Buddy could hear Winston crying from down the hall. He was void of empathy due to the fact that this was his ruse, but he had enough compassion in him to bring Apple to work today, knowing that Winston would be a mess. 

Still, the sound of his business partner crying was music to his ears- but it wasn’t nearly as satisfying as watching the cameras within the Parr residence. 

Mr. Incredible was inconsolable and was currently a one-man logger crew, tearing down the small forest behind the house. Elastigirl, known for her agility, hadn’t moved from her seat at the kitchen table in hours. He didn’t have eyes on either of the kids but he imagined that they were either unaware of the news just yet or they were on the ground looking for any trace of their lost sister. 

A family’s worst nightmare was their reality now. Syndrome could hardly contain his satisfaction. 

Turning off the live feed of the Parr Kitchen video feed, the man eyed the work in front of him and found that he had no motivation to push papers or review plans. He just wanted to bask in the chaos that was going on. 

He tried to imagine how Dicker was handling the news and how in the dark the NSA was on the truth. If he had it his way, not a single soul within the NSA would see even a hint of Violet again, but that bet was on the table.

He had already notified HR that he would be out of the office for the next two days. The reason for his absence was disguised as a very important meeting with a potential investor on the east coast but the truth was that would be when he and Violet would have their match. The second day added would just be reserved for caring for potential wounds. Supers tend to heal much faster than average humans but he was going to fight as dirty as he could. 

He wasn’t going to kid himself. Violet was the strongest super there was, a perfect 10 compared to her father’s rating of 9.1 and while the super had managed to best him a week ago and destroyed his droids on the regular he still felt he had the advantage. 

He knew all of her moves, practically had an ongoing choreography in his mind. It would be a lot of dodging on his part but he could manage that no problem, the thing he had to be most concerned about was her near-perfect defense system. He might have enhanced her abilities with his recent gift, but he always kept the best toys for himself. 

Together they would finally answer the paradoxical question of what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. 

Picking up the phone on his desk, Buddy hit the line that led to Winston’s office. Normally, the perpetually merry fellow picked up on the first ring, but given the stress he was under, Winston didn’t pick up until the third ring.

“Hey there Win, how are you holding up?”

“Jimmy, I’m not gonna lie… I don’t think I’ve cried this much even after my father died. Violet was such a great kid!”

“Yup.”

“She had her whole life in front of her!”

“She sure did. Nothing short of tragic.” 

“I should make the funeral arrangements for her… I always cracked the joke that corporate kills but I never imagined that-”

“Win. Listen to me. It’s not your fault. Okay?”

“But I-”

“Nope. It’s not your fault, and I know Violet wouldn’t want you to think that either. You sound like you are grieving pretty heavily yourself. Don’t worry about the funeral, I’ll make the arrangements and handle the expenses.”

“Jimmy-”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll start calling things up and make sure her memory is well preserved,” he said as he examined his fingernails. The memory wipers that the NSA used weren’t exactly down to a science, but he figured that the modifications could be a little more precise. “You know, I have to be out of town for a couple of days, and I’d hate to be a burden, especially in this difficult time, but do you think you would be able to watch Apple for me? I know it’s last minute.”

There was silence on Winston’s side. Quiet enough for Buddy to consider if he should walk down the hall to check on the sad fellow but Winston came back onto the line.

“I-I’d like that a lot. Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” Buddy replied. He hadn’t planned on dumping Apple on the man initially, but it did help sell the trip better- not that he had to convince anyone of anything he did. “I’m going to hang up now, but can I do anything else for you?”

“No, I’ll- I’ll be fine. You’re a good friend, I hope you know that.”

Buddy paused at the question. Was he? 

He had taken Violet from right underneath his nose and led him to believe that she was dead. Had infiltrated the company specifically to use it as a shield. This wasn’t friendship but rather manipulation. Parasitism if he was being completely honest.

But as long as Winston felt that it was real, it may as well be real.

  
  


\---

  
  


Violet sat at the dining room table with her knees to her chest as she watched her family grieve her death, trying to remind herself that it was better this way. It had to be this way. It was safer this way. 

She knew that there was no ‘fair’ in this situation. There wasn’t a scenario where she could just go home, and even if there was, what the hell would she tell them?

‘Hey guys, I got kidnapped by Syndrome and had to fight his murder bots for his science project but it’s okay- he’s not so bad once you get past the narcissistic megalomaniac side of him to see that he’s actually some dumb dork who wants validation. I could have escaped but I really wanted to make some changes in my life including going after members of the NSA. Oh and also, we fucked.’

Yeah. Watching her family mourn her death sucked. It sucked a lot. But somehow the truth felt worse.

The front door opened and Violet waited to hear the padding footsteps of Apple to approach but they never came. Instead, she was greeted by the man who had started this whole mess for her. 

Buddy’s eyes met hers briefly then they traveled down to the table where she had some books open including a medical textbook he recognized that belonged in his room. He smirked, figuring she was trying to plan what body parts she could damage without killing him. Hopefully. Turning to the screen Buddy saw that the whole family was there now. 

Well, all but one of the Parr’s, obviously. 

“Apple is going to be staying with Winston for a few days. Seemed like he needs someone right now.”

“Wow. Is that genuine kindness I’m hearing right now?” Violet asked and Buddy shook his head.

“Memory wipes are pretty draining. Figured it would be best to get her out of the picture to let you rest.”

Violet furrowed her brow at the comment and planted her feet on the floor again. 

“Or maybe you did it because you know I’m going to break you tomorrow and you won’t be able to handle her energy.”

Buddy grinned enjoying the rise he got out of the super. 

“Well, I just want to let you know that I don’t want you holding back any punches tomorrow even though I’m the brains of WatchDog and all. It would be a crying shame if I couldn’t perform to my utmost ability, but I don’t like being robbed of an actual victory.” he taunted as he neared the table. "I'm certain you won't win, but just wanted to remind you of that fun fact."

“Oh, don’t worry, you don’t need working legs to operate the cyber side of our operation,” Violet bit back as she pushed the chair out from behind her and rounded the edge of the table. 

Clicking his jaw at the threat, Buddy stepped closer but paused only to see movement on the screen that showed her family. Dicker was on the scene and Robert looked pissed. The volume was muted, but it was clear that he was screaming about something. The faithful agent seemed to just take the anger as it came. The pair watched the scene unfold in silence. Helen was still in shock, but her brothers seemed to be able to reign in Mr. Incredible's temper away from Dicker. Buddy wondered what the hell Dicker had done to get that amount of heat from the man, but grief looked different on everyone and Robert Parr opted for the angry route it seemed. 

"How do you do it?" Violet asked, neither of them looking away from her family. 

"Do what?"

"Not running back into your old life, or contacting your family. How do you do it?"

Buddy turned away from the screen and sat against the edge of the table. Folding his arms he offered a shrug as he glanced her way. 

"I've got it relatively easy, Parr. When I died, there was no one who would have shown up to my funeral," he said looking over his shoulder and at the screen again. Bob was holding a newspaper and pointing to an article. "I was out of their lives long before the crash."

Violet nodded in understanding. The question was on the tip of her tongue, but she felt like she had asked it before, or some version of it. "What about your family? Where are they?"

"My mom died when I was a kid," Buddy admitted. "My father left after she passed so I ended up in the system. Sometimes I get the itch to see whatever became of him but I'm happier thinking he drank himself into an early grave."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. People die. That's just life."

Violet glanced up to him again, doing her best not to psychoanalyze him. It took a lot more than a bad childhood to make what he became but it was a start to that case study. 

"May I ask how she died?"

"She was sick for a long time. I'm not sure what it was though. Cancer. Hep C maybe- the doctors wouldn't say, like keeping the name of something from kids shields them from the pain of it all. She'd have her good days and bad days until they all became bad days and then those ran out too." He didn't need to tell her these things, but he was going to win their wager tomorrow anyway. She wouldn't remember this conversation, him drugging her, the darker version of the SRA or anything else that happened over the weekend. Including the event that took place on the table the very table he was propped up against. "Like I said, people die, Parr. But we are part of the very selective club of the living dead, so enjoy purgatory, because this is it."

Pushing off from the furniture he moved to the liquor cart to get himself a drink, trying to remember if he drank more or less since she had entered this house. He felt like it was more, but maybe it was just because there was someone else to watch him poison himself slowly. He had just revealed that alcoholism runs in his veins, and here he was going to cleanse himself at the bottom of a bottle. 

Before he could pour himself a glass he felt Violet's hand over his. He didn't want to look at her. He didn't want to acknowledge whatever it was that she would have to say. He just wanted it to be the next day, after their duel and after he took away the last few days for her. Where she wouldn't connect this room to him the way he was thinking of it now. 

She kissed his cheek and he didn't know what to do. He stood there like an idiot, wondering what he had done to deserve this. The jet crash he understood, if he was caught by the NSA or the FBI he'd understand that too. The neglect and abuse from his father figures was just a staple in his life that he didn't question anymore but he wanted to know what he had done to deserve something so cruel as the gentleness she was giving him now. 

She kissed his lips and he still didn't respond. 

Maybe it was a ploy on her part. An attempt to lower his defenses when they fought tomorrow. If she could get underneath his skin he'd just give in and let her win. 

Her hand left him and he thought that the pain had passed for him but the hand was now caressing his cheek and she kissed him again. He set the glass down and pulled his head away before she could touch his lips again. 

"You don't know what you're doing," he mumbled. He couldn't bring himself to look into those dark ocean blue eyes of hers. "You won't remember any of this anyway."

"Then I'm not risking anything, am I?" She asked in reply. 

"Why are you doing this to me?"

"I don't understand the question."

"Why are you acting like you care?"

"Why are you acting like you don't?"

Buddy swallowed at the question. He might not be part of the elite few who were issued to wear masks but that didn't stop him. It was always easier to put on a fake face, take another drink and not think about what was underneath the surface. Just get to the next goal. And then the next one. Just keep pushing until something gives and move to the next plan. 

"What does it matter, Parr? I’m the bad guy here. Get it? You keep making me out to be a simple rehab case and you’re going to find out that I’m not one to change."

“I think you already have.”

He clenched his fists at the accusation. He wasn’t looking for redemption and he had to make that perfectly clear to her but he didn’t know how that was possible when he found himself doing things that were against his better nature. 

“You can’t save everyone, super. Just remember that.”

"It’s not about me saving you, it’s about changing for the better, Buddy," Violet whispered. There was science that could back her up in an argument for once. Neuroplasticity, the fact that the brain isn't a static organ, that things could change, people could change. As much as society believed that criminals would always be set in their ways, there was hope that even someone like Syndrome had the capacity to change. Hope for a better man. "We can get better because we're not dead yet," Violet whispered as her lips brushed against his again. 

He wanted to believe that but he didn’t. As he kissed her he wanted to think he could shift gears but this was how he was programmed to be. Trust no one. Use them up and spit them out. 

He kissed her deeply, forgetting his place in all of this. Ignoring the part of his brain that screamed that this wasn’t what he had planned on- that he should return to the way things were and not what he wanted them to be. She wasn’t going to remember any of this and didn’t he deserve to live in the moment for once?

He didn’t even realize that he had led her to his bedroom until she was pulling him down on top of the sheets. He hadn’t a drop of liquor in him yet he was getting drunk off of her. Intoxicated by her soft skin, her tender and sweet lips that released delicate mewls of pleasure as their bodies intertwined. 

This wasn’t right. He was doing it again. 

But she was complicit in this act as well, wasn’t she? 

Adding fuel to the fire with each additional kiss she gave him, the begging ‘yeses’ providing the oxygen to this unlawful inferno. 

She screamed out his name, it sounded so much more appealing in her voice, in that pitch, and it was only after he came that he came to his senses again, but he didn’t pull away from her. Not willing to let go of her just yet. This would be the last time he could let this happen- once he let go he wouldn’t be able to pull her back again. 

“I’ll miss this-” Buddy mumbled into her skin as Violet combed a hand through his hair.

"I'm not going to let you win," Violet said firmly. "So you're not going to be able to throw me away."

Buddy lifted himself to stare down at the woman he had to fight in the morning. Who was he kidding, they were always fighting- even when they weren't at each other's throats they were constantly undermining each other. Regardless of tomorrow's outcome, they would continue to fight each other until there was nothing left of the other side. He was an arms dealer, so he did take comfort in conflict- profited off it too! But this war was one he wasn't sure if he wanted to take part in anymore. 

'Just one more win. All is fair in love and war,' he thought to himself. Of course he was going to fight dirty, but could he take more from her than the agreed amount? 

A clean slate was possible, the NSA used to do it all the time with the witness protection program. No need to worry about Mr. And Mrs. Smith conforming to their new lives, they were given a nearly perfect reset switch, but the files that he had studied had unforeseen side effects when they did a deep wash. The person lost who they were completely. Not just their names or knowing where they came from originally but their personalities altered drastically. Folks who were red-blooded conservatives would turn tail and join their local communist party, people who spent years in a trade that they enjoyed in their past life had no passion for it in the new. 

He could erase Violet, start her up anew. Mold her into something that could suit his wants and desires… but would he actually like that? In theory, oh hell yes. Turn Mr. Incredible's daughter into the ultimate femme fatale- or the picture-perfect housewife? … But he liked that fight in her. He liked her rebelliousness and the passion she had for the concept of justice. He didn't agree with it all the time, but she was growing on him. 

"Do you even want to remember this?" He asked seriously and she smiled sadly at him. 

"Do you think everyone wants to forget you, or do you prefer living anonymously?"

There was a sick joke in all of this. Sigmund Freud level sickness, I mean, hadn't Freud said that it would never be possible to avoid little laboratory explosions? Buddy wasn't sure who was really in control here and he didn’t think he wanted to know the answer either. 

“Get out of my head,” he grumbled and when the woman motioned to get out from underneath him he held her with possession. “I said head, not bed.”

Violet stiffened at the action but didn’t fight, that’s what tomorrow was for. Instead, she curled in closer, her head resting against his chest, her eyes tracing the pale pink and white raised lines and specks that littered his frame. Unsurprisingly, she found a heart beating within the man, but she didn’t want to alarm him of this discovery, because a heart in the literary sense implied that he was capable of empathy or compassion and he didn’t seem to like to think that he could be a good guy.

  
  


\---

Violet was the first one to awaken. When she pulled herself out of Buddy’s hold she had pulled him from sleep's hold as well. They didn’t exchange pillow talk or sweet good morning pleasantries, only vacant stares were passed between them, each other silently hoping that the other would cave into the other’s demand, but both of them were too stubborn in their own right. 

Violet slowly made her way across the room and stopped to look back at Buddy who had yet to move an inch. 

“See you down there I guess.”

“Yeah. See you in a bit.”

“Make sure you eat breakfast,” Violet stated, making Buddy cock an eyebrow at the question and she shrugged. “It’s the most important meal of the day,” she said with a defensive shrug. 

“OK super,” Buddy mocked but he had no real intention on eating this morning. He rolled onto his back once she was out of the room and covered his face with his hands as he tried to motivate himself for the tasks of the day. 

Shower and shave. Pull out his gear to fight the super with, beat her, and wipe her mind. Then it was back to business as usual... Get Violet’s gear prepped for subduing Harris this weekend. Find another sorry sap to exploit…. Provide any necessary aftercare to Violet…

_ ‘But what if you lose?’ _

“That’s not an option.”

_ ‘But what if you do? How does your day go then?’ _

Buddy bit his tongue at the concept. Nothing was impossible, but preparing for failure was another way of expecting failure in his mind.

On the extremely off-chance that Violet was to best him in the ring, his first concern would be if she had killed him or not though that would be the end of all of his problems. As long as he wasn’t mortally wounded the only major change would be not getting what he wanted and being forced to join in on the suicide-pact she was determined to pursue. Other than that and self-care, nothing would change. Right?

But it still couldn't happen. 

Cleaned up and dressed in his workout clothes, Buddy made his way down the hall to get himself a cup of coffee before checking out his gear. He was about halfway down the staircase when he heard the unmistakable sound of someone throwing up. Buddy found himself grinning rather than cringing at the sound. This match just grew more in his favor.

"You okay, Parr? Did you lose you breakfast?" He prodded from where he stood. She didn't answer and he grew somewhat concerned but hearing the sound of a flushing toilet eased his mind. 

He grabbed a coffee to go as well as a cup of oatmeal, only to please the super, and he descended down into his lab as confident as ever. He had all the tech he needed to level the playing field with her. 

The invisibility part would be tricky for the average person, but he had heat-seeking goggles that would be able to pick her out.

His agility would be increased thanks to his rocket boots so dodging her attacks shouldn't be difficult at all. What he was concerned about however was getting through the force fields of hers.

His Zero Point Energy rays were, unfortunately, useless against her shields. If he had more time he might have been able to find a frequency or heat level that could pierce the super's protective layer but that pet project would have to wait another day. Blunt force and quantity would be his friends here instead and he had them. He'd be bringing the smoke bombs to play and he also had upgraded his gauntlets to full graphene gloves that could produce the same amount of force that Mr.Incredible's fists could produce.

Suffice to say, he had this match in the bag. He only wished that he had an outfit to match his superiority but the old suit didn't quite feel right any more. Maybe someday he would custom order something from Gabaki or some other designer for shits and giggles but for now his tracksuit would have to do.

Chamber one was the field that he and Violet would fight on and entering the room he was surprised to see Violet was already inside with the medical bot on standby. 

"Listen Parr, if you are feeling under the weather you can just take the L and we can get on with that memory wipe," Buddy said, taking note at how pale she looked. 

"What constitutes a win here?" Violet asked as though they never had this conversation before. "At what point do we say the match is over?"

"Well, ideally, conceding defeat is a good mark of victory. A straight knockout too. I suppose killing the other person would make a win too but I'd prefer to stay away from that." 

"Great, okay- before we begin I have a final question. Did you eat breakfast?"

"You're kidding me right?"

"I'm not. Did you eat breakfast?"

"Vi-"

"Please just answer the question?!"

From the waist up Buddy's body went slack. She was something else. Rolling his eyes he nodded his head. 

"Yes, I had breakfast, okay Parr?! I'm kinda glad that you're so caught up in this nurturing role right now to be honest. You actually had me convinced that you are capable of being a kill-"

He was cut off by the sudden and violent urge to throw up but it wasn't an urge. It was forced. 

Doubled over, Buddy released the contents of his stomach, retching up the blended and barely digested remains of his oatmeal and coffee. He tried to remember the last time that he was this ill- but it wasn't a sickness, it was closer to the time when his father had punched him in the stomach for taking apart the tele- Buddy's eyes widened with realization as he saw Violet’s elevated hand. 

The medical textbook. The sound of her vomiting. Her nagging that he should fight on a full stomach. He thought he had seen everything she could throw but she had an Ace in the hole as well. And it was in him.

The force field was inside of him. 

…

He didn't realize he had fainted until he was staring up at a distraught Violet. He saw her lips moving but the sound had yet to hit his ears. He was in shock. She had beaten him, maybe not fair and square but it wasn’t like he was going to win anyway. 

"I'm sorry! Please be okay! I shouldn't have done that!" Violet repeated over and over again in different variations. 

When did she learn to do that?

“I’m sorry! Just please be okay-”

Was it before she got here or after? Surely it couldn’t be after. Though she did test it on herself earlier. He had to admire the dedication but that was dangerous.

“I should have just demonstrated it on something else.”

She could have really hurt herself.

“You just have to be okay- I can’t- I can’t-”

He felt the tears on his cheeks before he became aware of the streaks running down her face. Why was she crying?

“You win,” Buddy uttered, unable to turn his head away from the beautiful and terrifying woman who held his head in her lap. She had stopped crying and stared at him in relief. He released a chuckle and shook his head. “I thought I was the sneaky one but damn… You really got me,” he whispered as he closed his eyes again. “Violet?”

“Yeah?”

“Who else knows that you can do that?” He asked with his eyes still closed, steeping himself into the comfort he felt with her fingers combing through his hair. 

“Just you and- and Rick. I don’t think he told my parents about it and- he uh, he wiped all of the witnesses I think. Dash was there but I don’t think he saw.”

‘

“That’s good.”

“Are you okay? Your robonurse did a scan and said you’re okay, but are you okay?” Violet asked and the man smiled gently at the question.

“I think I’m okay.”

“Can you move? I didn’t hit anything else, right? I’m so stupid!”

“Violet. You aren’t stupid. That was… brilliant. But Vi,”

“Yeah Buddy?”

“Nobody else can know about this.”

“I’ll never do it again- I promise. I promised Rick too but I- I’m so sorry,” Violet cried as he lifted his hand above his head to touch her face. Opening his eyes again, Buddy shook his head. 

“I didn’t say that… It’s a neat trick. You can do it again… Just not to me. Or yourself… Everyone else is fair game…”

“Can you get up for me?”

“I’d- I’d prefer not to. Not just yet….” he mumbled as he closed his eyes again. “Do- do you think you can keep brushing my hair like that? It feels nice.” Violet nodded and began to run her fingers through his hair again. Buddy breathed deeply as he came to terms with the defeat. “I never stood a chance, huh?”

“Nope.”

“I think I should listen to you more often,” he muttered with a smile and she gave a smile in return before she rested her head against his, her silky black hair cascading around him. 

“Are you mad?”

“Mad? No… no. But I’m thinking about revoking the right to call myself Mr. Incredible’s number one fan. And I’d kiss you too, but I don’t think you’d enjoy the taste of bile.”

“And we shouldn’t because we’d be breaking rule five,” Violet said gently while holding back a laugh. Buddy sighed reluctantly and nodded.

“Right, rule five… we can’t go breaking that when we have some necks to break.”

He didn’t much care for rule five, and he wanted to point out that they had already shattered the rule twice now, but she had been to initiate the crime both times. He might not have won this battle, but maybe he’d be able to win the war over rule five.


	20. Multiple Personality

Robert Parr clenched his fingers around the newspaper’s edges as he read the story from the front page. 

**‘WatchDog Bites Again!’**

It had been two weeks since news broke out about Violet’s death, and Robert Parr blamed WatchDog more than anyone for the tragedy. He- or she- They? It? Whatever WatchDog was, Robert Parr hated them. 

Hated them for reporting the incident to the media before coming to them. He hated them for refusing to work underneath the umbrella of the NSA and always managed to be a step ahead of them. HATED that their powers were super strength AND some form of telekinesis- and there was word that this WatchDog person had a jet car- or something that could zip them around the country. Solving crimes from here to New Urbem… The travel expenses alone without government support meant that they had some serious cash flow and he hated them for that as well. And now they nabbed Bomb Voyage from his retirement! He hadn’t been active in 20 years, how the hell did WatchDog keep finding these criminals?!”

“Bob.”

Robert didn’t hear his wife. He was too busy thinking about what he would do to the pipsqueak if he ever got his hands on them.

“Bob?”

Feeling their bones crack in his hands.

“BOB!”

“WHAT?!” Bob shouted back and paused to see that he had caused a fracture in the table with the pressure of his elbows. Taking a breath, Robert set the paper down and looked to his wife with a guilty expression. “Sorry Helen. This guy, this… WatchDog- they just get under my skin. I don’t get why everyone loves them so much!”

“I know, Bob, they aren’t exactly a team player,” Helen agreed as she moved to her husband’s side. “But it could be worse you know- they could have been a villain,” she suggested making Bob groan.

“What are you talking about, that would be GREAT! Then I’d be justified in pulverizing the little sh-” Bob caught himself as his wife gave him a warning look. “Sorry. But they don’t even have a proper suit! They look more like someone who belongs in a ruffian motorcycle gang!”

“Oh? And what’s wrong with being part of a motorcycle gang?” Helen asked, and Bob flinched in response. 

“Nothing! That wasn’t what I meant… Forget I said anything.”

“Uh huh. Now can you please get dressed? We are going to be late for the service,” Helen warned as she walked away. 

Bob nodded and watched his wife momentarily before turning his eyes back to the image of WatchDog, clenching his fists once more. It was bad enough that this asshole mismanaged the news of his daughter’s kidnapping, Bob had a slight suspicion that WatchDog was somehow responsible for the explosion as well- but now he had to attend the funeral that some rich asshole took over. 

If anybody should pay for Violet’s death, it should be WatchDog. 

  
  
  


No funeral was nice, but whoever had arranged it the service did Violet some justice. They spared no expense. From the flowers to the casket that would be placed into the ground with nothing to fill it with, everything was gorgeous and outrageously priced. 

“Do you think Violet slept with the guy?” Dash asked as they exited the memorial grounds. His parents sent heated stares his way but Dash waved a hand back to Violet’s final resting place. It was extravagant, and a little over the top for someone that was hardly aware of her existence at all. 

“Dash, I think Winston’s business partner is just trying to be nice,” Helen whispered, trying to be polite. There was no telling who had made the arrangement. Looking up she saw Winston approaching and Helen gave a wave. “Don’t you dare ask that question. Just be nice!”

“Helen, Bob, Dash, JJ- I’m sorry to see you all under these circumstances,” Winston whispered as he motioned to hug but all save for Helen abstained from contact. 

“It was a beautiful ceremony,” Helen said as she gave a look around the graveyard. “Actually, Win, we were just wondering-”

“Did your friend have a sleepover with Violet?” asked Jack-Jack, getting mortified stares from everyone but Dash who did his best not to laugh. 

“Uhh, no, no I don’t think he did little buddy,” Winston replied, thrown off by the question. “They met once, seemed like they really hit it off though. Violet had actually volunteered to give James a tour around the city too, but … well, you know the rest of the story,” Winston said looking off to the portrait of Violet and sighed wistfully. “I really liked her. Who would have thought that interning is more deadly than hero work?”

“Well, where is the guy so we can thank him for putting all of this together?” Bob asked, wanting to get away from the empty grave as quickly as possible. There was a certain body he thought could be a very good substitute for Violet’s body. 

“Oh he couldn’t make it. James has to be the biggest workaholic I’ve ever met, and that’s saying something! I think he’s out in Florida right now? Or maybe it was the Carolina’s… Anyway, he should be flying back in tonight. If you guys want to drop on by tomorrow afternoon I’m sure he’d love to meet you all but Apple is the real prize to see.”

\---

When they landed back at his estate, Violet was more than eager to get to work on the next mark. So far, thanks to Buddy’s work in the NSA files, they had found two names tied to the sinister SRA, sadly those names had been on headstones for a few years leaving them with nothing but dead ends, but they weren’t giving up. Violet made sure of that.

“Think we can find another name before you have to call it a night?” Violet asked as she released Apple from her crate in the back of the hovercraft. 

“Actually, when you were dropping off Bomb V with the FBI I was able to pick up a potential lead…” he teased from the Pilot’s seat. Like a charm, the woman made her way back to him and barricaded him in the seat with a hand on each of the armrests.

“Were you now?” Violet asked as she leaned in. Buddy smirked. Rule five had been honored by both parties over the last couple of weeks but there have been close calls. He was hoping that this would be more than the tease she was currently presenting but he had to continue with business as usual.

“Yup. A potential name is definitely a politician or at least former politician who just so happened to be a representative in Municiberg back in the day- about a decade before the ban was put into place and was one of the major advocates behind the second lawsuit that hit your old man… the uh, train one. Unfortunately, I’ve got work tomorrow, but how do you feel about enjoying your old stomping ground as WatchDog to collect some hard and undigitized data for me?”

Violet was surprised at the suggestion. 

“You trust me enough to let me roam around home?”

Buddy shrugged at the question. 

“I’ve trusted you so far with far more pressing things I think,” he said as his hand unconsciously hovered over his abdomen, “but yeah. After all, you want to bag this more than me. Additionally, it’s pretty hard for me to do the footwork on that front. Public records and libraries might be limited in holding my likeness, but the people who handle that sort of stuff got memories like steel traps. Syndrome likely won’t register, but they most certainly won’t forget the face of Buddy Pine who was in that building every day save for Saturday. Besides, even if that isn’t the case, I gotta imagine that some kid is going to flip their lid seeing that their favorite hero likes to read at their local library too.”

Violet smiled softly at the statement, trying to picture Buddy as a kid waiting for his favorite super to enter a book signing but her smile faded in remembering who his favorite super was. 

She tried briefly to imagine for a minute what Buddy's life could have been like now if he was taken under the wing of Mr. Incredible. It wouldn't have happened, not just because of the risks involved with bringing a kid along to bank heists and whatnot but because of who her father was. She loved her dad, how could she not? But loving something or someone doesn't mean you can't criticize it- quite the opposite should be true. Her father was Mr. Incredible, and he did his best at being a family man but he was at times incredibly selfish and ignorant about the needs of others. For years he had risked the safety of the family so he could play hero again. Now knowing all that the NSA had done to prevent any more supers from coming of age, she was even more critical. Had he known about the additional dangers, would he still have continued to be Mr. Incredible? 

"I'm sorry about my dad," Violet said suddenly but Buddy remained unphased.

"There are worse fathers out there, but it's not your place to apologize for him," Buddy said quietly as he stood from his seat and moved past Violet to let Apple off of the stale aircraft. "Hell, to some degree I owe your father some gratitude- I'm still bitter about him throwing a car at me mind you but if he didn't reject me, who knows where I would be? Maybe I would have been killed on a mission with him, get some sort of brain injury instead, or worst scenario of all... Maybe I would have made it into the ranks of the NSA!" 

"That's not funny," Violet grumbled and he chuckled in defiance. 

"It's a little funny."

"Maybe you could have been a hero," Violet said as they exited the hovercraft. "One of the good guys from the start. Who knows, butterfly effect and all, maybe supers never would have been banned."

Buddy didn't want to think about that but it was something of a real possibility. It was strange how he was something of a catalyst for waves of lawsuits that would lead to the official ban and then years later be the one who'd restart the conversation of bringing them back. 

"Let's get one thing straight, Parr, I was never going to be a hero. Not this timeline or any other one. This, you and me, it's fun I'll admit and sure, I guess one could say I'm good at it, but the whole doing things for others without reward? That’s not my style."

“Well, what are you getting out of this then?”

“Maybe a hall pass on rule five?” he asked while flashing a smile her way. “And seeing your old man have an aneurysm every time he opens a newspaper is pretty great too.”

Violet shook her head and followed him out of the hovercraft with the WatchDog helmet under her arm. She followed alongside him until she paused to stare up at the night sky. 

"My funeral was today, wasn't it?" 

"It was," Buddy called back as he continued at his regular pace towards the house, stopping only when he realized that the woman was no longer behind him. "Should I have recorded the service?

"No… You've been to one funeral and you've been to them all," Violet said before she made her way back towards the mansion again. "I'm sure we didn't miss anything."

\---

“Okay Jimmy, spill the beans, what’s her name?” Winston asked as he sat on the couch in the office assigned to James Everett. Against Buddy’s best wishes, Apple was also on the couch with Winston. He stopped his hand from signing off on the approval of the solar plans he had submitted for review weeks earlier and glanced up at his business equal. 

“Win, we practically have joint custody of Apple. Why are you asking me what you already know?”

“No, not Apple, I know she’s the leading lady in your life, but you can’t keep this a secret from me, I know that look!” Winston pressed as he jumped off from the couch and approached his business partner’s desk. “Now I don’t doubt that your business trips aren’t what they say they are, but I’ve got a feeling that you’ve got a plus one on that plane of yours. So what’s her name?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Buddy said quickly, refocusing back on the paperwork before him and Winston snapped his fingers. 

“That’s it! That’s the look! You’ve got a romance going on! You gotta tell me everything! Who are they, how did you two meet, and most importantly, when can I meet them?!”

Buddy bit back the urge to shut down the energetic man. He knew the man well enough that he was like a dog with a bone. Once Winston had something on his mind he would not let it go. Setting the pen down, the fellow executive leaned back in his seat and clasped his hands together and gave a smug grin.

“Hate to plead the fifth here, but a gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.”

If it was remotely possible for Winston to smile wider he did just that. 

“Oh, you scamp! Keep your secrets, I’ve got some of my own too,” Winston said with a laugh before shaking his head. “Whoever this mysterious lover is I gotta say, they’ve done a number on you in a short amount of time.”

“What makes you say that? Are you suggesting that my performance is slipping?”

“Well, that’s one way of putting it,” Winston said as he sat on the edge of the desk. “I knew that Kronos Incorporated and the man behind it was a good and charitable guy but I chalked it up to just be corporate care but man, you’ve really got a heart of gold, doing what you did for Violet. And the plans you’ve been pushing out- like the solar, and oh that water thingy! It’s not the same woman that was responsible for the sleep trouble a few weeks ago was it?”

“It’s hydrofiltration, and I’m still pleading the fifth,” Buddy stated as he picked up his pen again. Winston opened his mouth to prod further but the door swung open revealing Clifford from HR.

“Hey, Winny! You gotta check out channel 7, WatchDog is in town!”

“In broad daylight? On Broad Street?! This I gotta see!” Winston shouted, jumping off of his partner’s desk to get back to his office. 

Buddy considered going out to see the coverage but stayed in his seat, running over Winston’s accusations in his head. Winston couldn’t spot danger if it was painted right in front of his face, so why the hell was he taking his word for going soft?

\---

Violet knew that WatchDog was a big deal, but she had underestimated the fanfare. People crowded around her but the sea of fans would part before they’d even touch. 

‘WatchDog! Look over here!’

“Marry me, WatchDog!” screamed a woman from behind.

“We love you WatchDog!”

Inside of her helmet, Violet could hardly contain a smile. As Invisi-girl, she had a decent fanbase but what stuck out the most for her were the creeps, guys all clambering to find out what it would be like to sleep with a woman they couldn’t see. As WatchDog however Violet wasn’t sexualized in that manner. The all-black tactical suit she wore didn’t display gender, but it was instantly assumed that she was a man and she did not mind that in the least. 

Making her way up the steps of the Municiberg Public Library, Violet continued to wave and nod to the civilians and screamed her alter-alter-ego name. It was well established from previous ‘missions’ that WatchDog was mute, or at least did not choose to speak. All the communication that was made was on Buddy’s end. Voice masking technology was available, but anything that could be faked could be broken down and it was safer to leave the PR to him. 

Communication in person however was handled through AI, a holographic message system would emit from the screen of the battle grade watch that Buddy had designed for her. She liked the pink one but keeping up appearances was important. 

Even the librarians couldn’t help but whisper as WatchDog loomed over archived material and while it was frowned upon to have so much chatter in the library a few journalists were able to pick the brain of the elusive hero. They didn’t ask her of love interests or who she was wearing like the paparazzi did when she was a junior super, but actual hard-hitting questions. 

**“What are your goals as a defender?”**

_ ‘To comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.’ _

**“Who is your greatest rival?”**

_ ‘Those who see themselves as being above the law.’ _

**“WatchDog, why do you deny the assistance of the NSA?”**

_ ‘Because I don’t make mistakes.’ _

**“What do you want to tell the kids out there?”**

_ ‘Reading is a superpower. Don’t let it go to waste.’ _

  
  


Eventually, security was able to usher the press out of the quiet space along with nosy fans but not all were escorted out of the public space. Violet didn’t pay them any mind, but there was a pair of black suits that stood nearby. She’d have no problem shaking them but for the time being she’d just let them eat their heart out. 

Wrapping up her research, WatchDog attempted to return the files back to their homes but the library staff wouldn’t have it. 

“We’ve already put in an order for posters of you,” whispered a staffer with graying hair. “We really appreciate what you said about reading.”

A thumbs-up was all Violet could provide but she wanted to dance with excitement. 

Leaving the library, WatchDog still had the two agents on their tail. They kept their distance from the antihero, but it was still an obvious chase and Violet made sure to stay within public areas. Last thing she needed was getting snapped up by the NSA due to a careless misstep. 

  
  


\---

“Thanks for handling that presentation, Jimmy! I know it’s a little juvenile but I can’t help but gawk at the screen every time a super appears!” came Winton’s voice through Buddy’s phone speaker.

“I know the feeling,” Buddy said as he tuned into WatchDog’s video feed. “But it wasn’t a problem, after all, Teamwork makes the dream work, right?” he asked and was repaid with a hollow chuckle. 

“That’s what they say… Hey, I know it’s almost quitting time but think you got a minute to share a drink with me upstairs?”

“Winston, I’m not going to feed your unquenchable appetite for my personal life,” Buddy jested and Winston sighed heavily. 

“Fine, - no talk about your lady of the night, scouts honor! Let’s just call it one drink over talking about our favorite childhood super in recognition of WatchDog’s presence. Sound fair?”

Winston waited to be shut down. Waited for James Everett’s voice to confidently say ‘not tonight’ or ‘maybe next time’. Winston had been prepared for that and had already set up a clever trap for his best friend upstairs but he had not expected the door to his office to be opened by the ginger man he had on the line. 

“I’d like that,” Buddy said with an honest smile. “I’d like that a lot actually.”

Winston slammed the phone down and quickly exited the room. As they made way for the elevator the older man began to quiz the redhead on the supers of old and new.

“Not going to lie, but I was pretty partial to Mr. Incredible growing up,” Buddy said casually. 

“That’s pretty ironic,” Winston said with a chuckle, forgetting himself momentarily he shifted the conversation. “I mean, I would have taken you for a Universal Man fan, being the workaholic that you are.”

Buddy had to laugh remembering how easy of a job it was taking out Universal Man. Even after the super ban, the disenfranchised man refused to remove the suit as he had no secret identity. Mirage tracked the poor bastard to be living underneath an overpass in a tent city. 

“No, no- I take my work very seriously but I’m capable of a good time,” Buddy said as the doors opened again to the reception hall and the pair exited without looking away from each other too immersed in their conversation to pull away, though Buddy’s attention was torn between Winston’s enthusiastic face and the vaguely familiar voice of a young man. One of the interns perhaps?

“I can see that now! Oh gosh, I know I said we’d only have one drink, can’t have you flying home inebriated or anything but I would LOVE to keep you in the city overnight sometime. You can crash at my place, or one of the business lofts. Maybe bring your girlfriend along for a night on the town?”

“ _ John-Jackson, don’t touch that! _ ” came the voice of a woman Buddy knew from somewhere. Maybe one of the ladies in the marketing and development department?

“I really don’t see that happening, my lady friend isn’t fond of being seen,” Buddy said with a sly grin before his face went slack as he faced forward to see an equally shocking set of faces. 

The Incredibles. Or better known as the Parr family as they were in their civies. Buddy was frozen stiff as the recognition was clear.

“Oh- sorry, I meant to surprise you! Bad idea I know, but you’ve just been so generous to Violet’s family I thought it was high time you all meet!” Winston stated, oblivious to the tension building up in the room. “James Everett, I’d like to introduce the Parr clan! Parr family, please meet my friend-”

“ _ **SYNDROME**_ ,” growled the unmistakably pissed voice of Mr. Incredible.


	21. Stockholm

Buddy’s ears were ringing as he stared at four-fifths of the Incredible family. His heart was in his throat and he could feel himself nearly breaking out into a nervous sweat. The only one who had moved in the immeasurable time that had passed with Winston who was looking back and forth between the Parr family and the person who Winston knew to be James Everett. 

“Syndrome?” Winston asked, confused. “Why does that sound familiar, Jim? Was that a B rate hero back in the day?”

“That man is Syndrome and he’s dangerous! Get away from him, Winston!” shouted Helen Parr who had raised her fists.

“You know, that guy who made the evil giant robot that nearly destroyed the city!” shouted Dash.

“The man who murdered dozens of supers, including Gazerbeam,” Robert seethed as his eyes bore into the living ghost before him. “You should be dead!”

“Jimmy, what the heck are they talking about?” Winston asked in confusion as he began to step away. “Guys, James here paid for Violet’s funeral, helped me start a foundation in her name. He wouldn’t hurt a fly! Tell them, Jim!” 

Buddy’s eyes darted to the stairway behind the superfamily briefly before landing on the face of his childhood hero once again.

“You were here the night Violet disappeared! Did you kill her? Is this some sick plot of yours? Kill my only daughter and rub it in my face?!”

"Jimmy, tell me this is just a big misunderstanding!"

"Hey Winston, get away from him!" Dash called out.

"Winston, get out of here and call Rick!" ordered Helen.

"Why are we all yelling?!" cried Jack-Jack. 

The ringing in Buddy's ears finally stopped. He should have known that it was inevitable that the Parr’s would want to meet the guy who had paid for Violet's funeral, he just assumed he would be informed about the meet and greet and could keep pushing it off. There wasn't a way out of this that kept him at James Everett. There was only fight or flight and neither of them seemed viable but he had to get out. 

Not wanting to waste another moment, Buddy managed to raise his watch with the Zero Point Energy beam catching all four of the Parr's. It also caught Winston off guard.

"WOAH! Jimmy!? What the heck?!"

"Sorry Win, but it looks like I've got to bail out now. Be sure to take good care of Apple for me, and sorry about breaking the contract," Buddy stated as he side stepped around the imobile supers to make his way to the bottom of the stairs. He considered bringing them all to the roof with him and dropping them off but that would be breaking one of Violet's more unbreakable rules. He opted instead to throw the family back towards the elevator and redirected his beam to the chandelier and pulled the hazardous crystal glass down to at least slow the supers from following him up to the helipad. 

Helen was the first one to recover and she was already giving orders to the rest of the family. "Dash, make sure he doesn't get away! Jack-Jack, stay with Winston to make sure he's safe until the NSA arrives!" 

Buddy crashed through the final doors to the rooftops and continued to make a run for his vehicle but was cut off by the eldest boy of the Parr family. Buddy tried to catch the speedster in his ray but Dash avoided the beam with little effort. It wasn't until Dash went on the offensive that Buddy was able to catch him into his beam. 

Sighing with relief, Buddy shook his head knowing the parents wouldn't be far behind. He turned just in time to see Elasti-girl’s fist to connect to his jaw. 

Stumbling back, he lost the hold on Dash and the trio spread out to not end up in the same predicament as before. 

"It's over Syndrome!" Bob Parr shouted. "I don't know how you survived this long, but you aren't getting away this time!"

Buddy's way back into the building was blocked and there was no way that he'd be able to reach his aircraft without one of the Incredible's to stop him. He took a step back as he tried to reconsider his options.

He had no recourse with the supers before him- unless he was willing to fling them off the roof one by one, but that wasn't a viable option either. Violet would almost certainly kill him if he did that. 

Lifting his hands up, Buddy offered a nervous smile.

"We can all just walk away right now. We don't need to get the NSA involved," Buddy said as calmly as he could and the hero's expression darkened. 

"Who the hell said that we were going to be bringing you in?" 

Buddy blinked in surprise. His family looked pretty thrown off by the bold statement as well. Killing off villains wasn't usually Mr. Incredible's method. Most deaths caused by him were either accidental or circumstantial, but Buddy wasn't going to call out this bluff. 

"Bob, we need to bring him in. He's gotta answer for what he's done," Helen pressed as she directed her attention to her husband again. "Think about Gazerbeam and everyone else."

"He needs to answer for whatever the hell he did to Violet!" 

"Well he can't do that if he's dead, right?" Dash asked looking away as well, no one noticing that Syndrome had taken another step back. 

"FINE! I'll just snap off his limbs after he tells us why he killed Violet!" Bob shouted as he turned his head back to the villain who was checking out the bottom of his shoes. "Alright Syndrome! Answer honestly and I'll consider making it less painful."

"You know, Mr. Inconceivable, I gotta say, as enticing that offer is and as much as I'd like to talk to you about your daughter, I think I'd rather jump off the building!" And he proceeded to do just that.

The Parr family exchanged looks of shock to each other before they ran over to look over the edge of the building to see their enemy running down the side of the building and Mr. Incredible turned to his son.

"Dash! Go after him!"

"I'd love to dad, but I can't run down buildings, that's just falling!"

"Helen?!" 

"He's too far down now, we'll have to try to catch up to him from below. Get to the car and we can suit up," Helen hissed as she was already turning back towards the rooftop entrance door.

  
  


Buddy ran on the side of the DevTech skyscraper thanking his brain for wearing the right shoes today while simultaneously cursing his luck that the Parr's were there to meet his alias. All this time he had believed Winston to be incapable of connecting the dots and it was that very same ineptitude that brought the masquerade to an end. 

Bringing up the commlink to Violet's mask, Buddy tried to come up with a new game plan but everything was going to shit.

"Violet, where are you?!" 

Violet had managed to throw off the NSA agents that were tailing her and was currently making her way towards the pickup point that Buddy had assigned for her. 

"Did you get out early or something?'' she asked quietly within her helmet as she gave a wave to some fans on the other side of the street. 

"I've been found-" Buddy's voice came through, making Violet stop in her tracks and turn to look towards the skyscraper as she listened to his out of breath voice continue. "I need you. It's- it's your family." 

"What?"

"Your family knows I'm alive!"

"I'm on my way," Violet replied and activated her rocket boots, veering for DevTech tower. 

Buddy came to a halt as he did his best to catch his breath. He was about half way down to the ground and was now standing on the first roof structure since he came from the helipad. He'd have to move again. Go underground again but now without the clout of death to shield him. He could see her coming from a distance and felt relief until he realized that the best shot they had getting out of town was a quarter mile up. He'd just have to grin and bear it. Activating the anti gravity soles again he lifted his foot up to the glass surface to start his trek back up but paused in seeing not his reflection but the image of Jack-Jack Parr glaring at him. 

"Oh no."

The kid transformed into his scaly beast form, the clothes he was wearing tearing at the seams but still clung to him in tatters. Breaking through the glass, Jack-Jack lunged at the villain and all Buddy could do was shield himself from the attack and broken glass. 

Jack-Jack raised an open claw to swipe at him again but was kicked back into the open window by WatchDog. Buddy was hauled to his feet by the masked avenger he had helped create and felt optimistic on the odds of escaping but then the rest of the family was already coming back onto the scene. 

"Run, I'll cover you!" Violet hissed. 

He didn't argue, he just ran up the side of the building he would soon hold no claim to. 

WatchDog lifted their arms in a defensive position as the Incredible's neared again, all donning their super suits. 

"WatchDog?! What are you doing here?" Dash asked but it was Mr. Incredible who put the pieces together as he saw his arch-nemesis getting away.

"They're working together! I knew that you weren't to be trusted! Didn't I tell everyone?!"

"Not now, honey," Elastigirl started as she turned her attention to the retreating figure of Syndrome. "Dash, get Syndrome, we'll handle WatchDog."

Dash nodded and turned to run up the side of the building but didn't manage to take so much as a step before WatchDog deployed three of the adhesive growing bullets at Dash's feet, pinning him in place. Recognizing the tech from Nomanisa, Mr. Incredible's face lit up, vindicated by the sight. 

" **_THEY ARE WORKING TOGETHER_ ** !"

"Not now, Bob!" Elastigirl shouted back before she threw herself towards WatchDog who weaved out of the way in time to hit her with four of the pistol’s ever-growing rounds. One on her elongated side that ended up folding over on top of the growing black ball, one to each of her hands and the other in the face. 

WatchDog turned the gun then onto Mr. Incredible then but he already grabbed hold of the gun by the muzzle and was crushing it in his fist.

“Who's the Alpha Dog now?”

Having wasted precious seconds on that witty statement, WatchDog was already retaliating. A kick to the inside of his leg followed up by two devastating blows to the face. Mr. Incredible had his fair share of punches, but these hits felt like entire bricks colliding with his jaw. He stumbled back and Jack-Jack was leaping into the fight but WatchDog’s boots lit up and they were taking off into the air after Syndrome.

Robert Parr watched with hateful eyes as the pair escaped, leaving the top of the tower in the aircraft that was parked there. He didn’t know how Syndrome survived, but he was sure he knew someone who had answers. 

…

The Incredible family, Winston Deavor, Apple, Rick Dicker and several other NSA agents were back on the penthouse floor of DevTech Tower, collecting all the evidence and information that they could on James Everett. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much value to the info that they had. Everything was done by the books save for the false identity and the Home of Address was just a P.O. Box outside of the country.

Sitting at a table with a portable phone, Bob dialed the number that Rick had provided him with, doing his best not to crush the phone in his hand as he watched the agents deflate the bullets that were still attached to his family. 

“Agent Mirage speaking,”

“Did you know?”

“Oh, hello Mr. Incredible. It’s been a while since I’ve heard that voice of yours,” Mirage said with a sickly pleasant voice, irritated that she was being accused of something from someone she would have considered a friend. “I hope the family is well, but you seem eager to get this call over with, so mind filling me in on what I should know?”

“That your boyfriend is still alive.”

Mirage’s eyes widened at the statement. That couldn’t be true. Pinching the phone between her shoulder and her ear, Mirage began to search the NSA servers for the files on Buddy ‘Syndrome’ Pine. She had helped log every scrap of detail she could on the man, a task that took countless hours of her time, and a job that didn’t garner her the trust she had hoped to gain. Instead of finding files she had helped create she came to a single message from the database. 

‘404 Error: Page Not Found’

“That motherfucker,” Mirage hissed into the phone and she got a laugh on the other side of the line. 

“Took the words right out of my mouth.”

“I suppose you ran into him today? How many pieces is he in now?” Mirage asked, assuming that Mr. Incredible had finished what a turbine couldn’t.

“He got away actually,” Bob muttered as he turned his gaze to Winston and Rick who seemed to be in a very heated argument. I have a theory that your ex isn’t done making robots, and I think that WatchDog is just a toy that he plays with.” According to Winston’s reports, the WatchDog’s in person grabs match the days that Syndrome’s alter ego was out of town.”

“You don’t say,” Mirage mumbled as she began to type in some codes to track recent security anomalies. “To circle back to the beginning of our conversation, rest assured that I had no idea. But I do have good news for you.”

“What’s that?”

“I think I know how to find him. But before I give you that information I want you to promise me something.”

“Depends on what it is, M,” Bob said, passing a look to Helen who was finally released from Syndrome’s tech.

“You let me get the first punch.”

“Deal.”

\---

Entering his home, Buddy made his way towards the secret entrance of his sanctum. 

“Pack only what you need. We leave in 15, and this isn’t a discussion,” he growled as an unmasked Violet chased after him

“We can still get ahead of this! We can go to the FBI and-”

“We can’t do shit, Parr!” Buddy shouted, turning to face her. “I’m not sure if you realize this, but everybody who’s in the NSA bad guy files, is also in the FBI bad guy files- And I haven’t deleted my existence from that department yet. We’re done. We had a good run, but hey, maybe in a decade or so from now, you can have another go, but as of now I am out!”

Violet’s jaw unhinged slightly at the resignation of Buddy. As the elevator doors opened, Buddy walked straight into Violet’s invisible force field. Cocking his head over his shoulder at her he narrowed his eyes before bringing out his best menacing smile.

“How did it feel to single handedly best your family. I mean I deserve some credit too, but I don’t think your dad much appreciated WatchDog’s involvement in my escape. We both already know that he wants me dead, but what do you think he’ll do if he catches you, hmm?”

“We can still do this though! If we could just go to the press like I wanted for the SRA-”

“Who do you think the press is going to believe here, hmm? We come out swinging with the story of the century, that the government was killing super kids when it wasn’t cool to be super, that might have worked last week- would have caused a shit show, but yeah, the media would have eaten it then, but if my name gets thrown out there, I am fucked. Do you hear me Vi? I will be screwed six ways by Sunday whenever my name gets leaked. I have your family to deal with, the NSA, the FBI, my current and former clients who need to cut the ties to save themselves, every fucking super that is remotely aware of what happened on Nomanisa-”

“I’ll protect you,” Violet said suddenly and Buddy’s mouth went dry. How long ago was it that he cracked a joke that she wouldn’t be his first choice as a bodyguard? Two months? Maybe more or less? Regardless of the timeline, he’d confidently say that he’d trust the super with his life, held more faith in her than any design he had come up with, but there was more to this problem. 

“I won’t let you,” he found himself admitting. “You could get hurt, or worse.”

“I’m capable of protecting both of us, thanks, or did you just forget that I managed to beat my family almost single handedly?”

“I’m not doubting your abilities, Parr. I know you can do it but I don’t think you should do it. What if you mess up? What if you end up hurting someone you care about? Your family? A super you were chummy with? A civilian who is in the wrong place at the wrong time? Could you live with making a mistake like that again?”

Violet felt her heart twist at the insinuation. “It was an accident,” she whispered back and Buddy moved closer to hold her face in his hands. 

“And I’m a goddamn catastrophe, Violet. We can’t fight this, okay? We can’t. We had a good run but now we have to run... Run away with me.”

Violet froze at the plea and shook her head tearfully. 

“I can’t.”

“Please,” he urged, stepping closer so that there was hardly any space between them. “I’ve got a hideaway in the Baltics- it’s colder than I would like but nobody will ever find us there. I promise you’ll never run out of books to read,” he whispered as he kissed her cheek.

“I don't want to run or hide anymore, Buddy, I want to fight!”

“We can’t stay in the open,” he replied as he kissed her other cheek. “I know it’s not what you want, and it’s a far cry from my original intentions for you but damn it Violet. Please just let me win for once,” Buddy breathed before kissing her lips fully. 

Violet found herself caving, her lips reciprocating the desire that the villain was demanding. 

“Who said you could break rule five?” Violet whispered bitterly as her hands went to his chest wanting to push him away but they instead clung to the business attire he wore. 

“Just let me win, Vi,” he begged between kisses. “Please, just let me get what I want this time.”

Violet sobbed out as his lips came to her neck. She nodded furiously as she held him.

“Can we come to a compromise?” she rasped and Buddy pulled away just enough to look her in the eye. “You give me this last name. Okay Buddy Pine? You pull out this last name for me, no matter what it ends up being, you let me make sure that name ends up on a grave if it isn’t already and I’ll run away with you."

He wanted to say no but he knew it was the best deal he was going to get. He pulled her into the elevator with him and the pair descended, their lips not parting until the elevator doors opened again. He pulled away, this time and Violet tried to move with him but he held her back and shook his head. 

“I’m going to start running the program to find your name with the recording from earlier. It’s going to take a couple of hours so in the meantime start packing a bag, I’ll be up soon,” he said quickly before kissing her again and broke it off abruptly to run to the tech lab. 

Violet watched him go until the doors were shut and she was on her way back up. She began cursing herself for falling in line so easily with him. He was manipulating her- wasn’t he. All this time he had been ebbing her down, breaking down her walls little by little until it was all crashing down. 

The doors opened again and Violet ran to her room, pulling the luggage case that was used for their vigilante getaways. She shoved whatever could fit, not caring about what outfits made it into the bag as she was coming to realize why she was willing to run away with him. 

She could have killed him a hundred times over the last few weeks and he could have done the same to her in the weeks before that. She believed that she needed him for the tech stuff but she knew that he had built nearly everything so it could run on itself without him. She could have left him behind with her family but instead she fought them off for him. 

She had every right to hate him. She had no reason in hell she should remotely trust him and yet here she was, two months in and knee deep in feelings for Syndrome. 

There was a name for it that she had learned about in her criminal psychology course, wasn’t there? When prisoners felt for their captors? It started with an S, after some city or town, and of course it ended with syndrome. But she hadn’t been under lock and key for a few weeks- she tried to fight herself from feeling this way all the while wanting to hold onto this nearly forgotten sensation. 

She couldn’t like him this way. She wasn’t looking for it and he didn’t meet her basic qualifications in a significant other!

She wanted someone who was kind and understanding who had an IQ that was higher than two. That's what the bar was for the simple girl.

He met the last box for sure, the watch on her wrist was enough to prove that- but he was a killer, he wasn’t kind or understanding!

He could be when he wanted to… Not that it should excuse him but he could be, and being kind is different than being nice. Being nice meant being polite or at least acting the part. Kindness meant putting the effort to care- and maybe she was biased now but it certainly looked like he cared. As for understanding, he had given her more say in how she could carry herself in the last month than most had given her in her entire life. They’d fight about it for sure, but he always heard her out. 

She wanted to scream, and then she heard him at the door. 

“Okay, ETA is about three hours for the name and then we can go- we just gotta hope that the boys and girls of the NSA aren’t as fast as they used to be,” Buddy said as he entered the room and looked to the single bag on the bed that wasn’t even zipped up yet. “Parr, what are you waiting for? Let’s pack up the jet and go,” he ordered. He had a bug-out bag already waiting for him to go, it was just a matter of picking out what tech would come and what would stay to end up in smoke. “Violet?”

“Buddy, I can't go with you.”

“Stop messing around. It’s cold where we are going and I see you’ve got shorts in there.”

“Buddy, can we just talk for a second-”

“Violet, we don’t have time for this! You know what, actually it's fine, I can just order something for you to be ready at the cabin."

“Buddy, please-”

“What?! What is it?”

“Buddy, I love you.”

  
  
  
  
  



	22. Talk and Die

Buddy breathed in deep, taking in the scent of Violet. Even with all the excitement yesterday her hair still carried the scent of lavender from the hair wash she all but forced him to buy. He wasn’t dreaming, but he wasn’t quite awake yet either as his mind looped over what had happened last night. 

“Buddy, I love you,” Violet said and the words caught him off guard. 

It had been a long time since he had heard the English strung together like that but he had never heard it in that context. Mirage wasn’t a sentimental lover and he wasn’t exactly possessive over her either and the women that he’d pay to be entertained by, well, paying someone to say something just felt pathetic. He didn’t have experience with this. These feelings. So he didn’t say it back. He knew that was considered rude to a degree but he couldn’t speak when every fiber in his body was telling him to carry out the act of that simple word.

It was only the third time that he had the pleasure of Violet. It was a number that he had wished was much higher but he hadn’t dared attempt to lure her to bed without her acting on it first. Not just because of the fact that she could kill him with the flick of her wrist if she didn’t want him but because even as greedy as he was he valued her consent. 

Yeah, even a vindictive, murdering war criminal, super snatching asshole like him had a line. It could get blurred in most arenas, but with intimacy… It was just something he had to keep himself in check with. But he couldn't hold himself back from her when she had said those words. 

He had taken her. Over and over again he pulled the love out of her just to return it tenfold. The sex wasn’t fueled by the pent up desire like the first time they had a go, and it wasn’t done for wanting to feel the warmth of another human being. It was done out of wanting to ingrain her voice saying those three insignificant words and his stupid name into his mind forever. 

And she had repeated herself. Both freely and from his pleas to hear them again. 

“I love you, Buddy,” she had said when she had pulled him into bed. He barely knew the meaning of the 'L' word but damn it all he knew he could learn. He was a quick study and he could learn from her if she was willing to teach it to him.

“I love you, Buddy!” she had cried as he entered her and he kissed her tears away, swearing that he’d never let her shed a tear that wasn’t made from passion or joy.

“I love you, Buddy,” Violet screamed and Buddy Pine knew that no name he could ever make up for himself would ever compare to the way she made him feel while screaming out those two cursed syllables attached at the end.

He lost count at how many times she had said his name and couldn’t say how many times she came. Worst of all however was the fact that in excitement he had lost track of time and his own consciousness as well.

When he opened his eyes again to the sunlight bleeding into the bedroom it was then and only then that he realized the error that he had made. Really it was a team effort here but he knew that he should have known better than to cave in to the woman currently in his grasp. It was a comforting sight to wake to however. Violet curled up in his arms, still sleeping, and it was a relief to see that there weren't any government agents swarming around them ready to end them both, but he knew that they were living on borrowed time. 

Leaning closer, he placed a kiss to her forehead and whispered to her to wake up. 

She obeyed the demand and she looked around, dazed and asked for the time before looking at the watch that was on his wrist. It wasn’t even 8 am, but it may as well have been a minute to midnight on the doomsday clock. 

“Finish packing, I’m going to start loading up the jet and collect that name,” he whispered before he rolled out of bed. Violet was slow to move but seeing him dress in the clothes that he wore the night before brought her back into the present situation. “Wings go up in a half-hour, earlier if possible” he said before leaving the room. 

He grabbed the emergency bag from his closet and nicked a few items from his den before heading for the front door. He checked off in his head all the things that had to be done before they could leave. 

Pack the plane. Grab the name of the legislator who fits into the NSA files. Wipe all the servers on the property and set all the self-destruct systems to go. Collect the super and then then go.

It was easy. He was going to get away with it all and then some. He checked his accounts and he had stashed enough wealth to live a modest millionaire’s life. The papers hadn’t spoken a word about what had happened at DevTech Tower so WatchDog was still a hero, letting him live the fantasy he had since he was a kid and the most recent development was his personal favorite. 

He got the girl. 

It was something unexpected and frankly somewhat juvenile to think about, he recalled how some of the heroes back in the day would pride themselves most for saving the damsel in distress, some supers would even make it a point to romantically pursue the dames they saved. As a kid he had just wanted to be the one people could depend on, but then he discovered that you really couldn't depend on anyone. But here he was, feeling giddy because he saw what those stupid capes were ranting and raving about. 

He got the girl. 

Opening the door to the outside world, Buddy Pine felt the warmth of the morning sun sink deep into his skin. He was going to miss the warm weather, but the Europeans spoke fondly about the wonders of Egypt, or he could always vacation on one of the coastal cities located in Africa. He was trying to picture Violet in a two piece swimsuit when something caught his eye.

He turned his head to see Mirage standing in front of a silver SUV. He almost believed he was seeing things until she made her way towards him, her heels clicking with each step she made. That’s when it felt more like a nightmare. When she struck his face with a hard slap he wasn’t sure how to take the situation. He was too stunned to retaliate, he could only stare at the woman who was formally his right hand as she shook off the stinging sensation from her own hand.

“What are you doing here? H-how did you-” 

“I’d ask you the same thing,” Mirage quickly interjected, “but I made a deal with someone else, and I think he has more pressing questions than catching up.”

Buddy blinked at the statement until he no longer felt the warmth of the sun and was eclipsed in a silhouette that he had studied for years. 

“Hello Syndrome.”

\---

Violet was dressed back up in the tactical outfit that belonged to WatchDog, the only pieces missing were the pistol that was lost in the fight with her father, an expended smoke canister and the helmet which she had left on the aircraft. Zipping up the bag she stepped out of the room and stopped upon hearing the sound of shattering glass. 

Dropping the bag, Violet went invisible to investigate who or what had caused the sound and turning the corner to look down the staircase she saw Buddy laying on the ground with her family crowded around him. In the doorway stood Mirage. 

“Now hold up just a second, Parr family,” Buddy stuttered as he extended his right hand out. Her father caught that hand and pried the watch off of his wrist and crushing it in his hand. 

“That should take care of your robot. Now you are going to tell us what I want to know, Syndrome? If the answer is convincing enough I may let you go back with your ex lover in one piece.”

"I think I’d rather deal with you to be honest,” Buddy admitted as he tended to his wrist. “What do you want to know?"

"Did you kill Violet?" Elastigirl asked.

"I didn't kill your daughter."

"You're lying," growled Mr. Incredible.

"Who was Sardonic to you?" Dash questioned and Buddy chuckled.

"A perpetual thorn in my side."

"And that's why you killed him with Violet along with him!" The angry father implied.

"I know it's hard to believe but I didn't kill your daughter. Any choice that she makes is her choice alone." 

He was giving her an out even now. A choice to make a run for it, or to stay hidden in the shadows. If he wanted to be saved he could have said anything alluding to that but he didn't.

"What was the game with WatchDog?' Mirage asked from the doorway. Buddy laughed heartily and shrugged. 

"I got to live out a dream for a little bit. Be a hero and piss off the right folks, clearly."

"It's finished, Syndrome, and so are you," Mr. Incredible growled as he moved closer to Buddy and pulled back his fist. 

Buddy flinched, preparing for the devastating if not lethal blow that Mr. Incredible was going to deliver. He was just as shocked as the rest of the room by the deflection made of Bob's fist hitting what looked to be the back of a woman's head but the hand didn't make contact with it.

"You're not a robot," Jack-Jack stated, who was just pointing out the obvious to the rest of the room. 

"Yeah and a girl? I thought you were a dude," Dash followed up and it was that moment that Violet revealed her face to them. All of Parr's faces revealed some tint of shock none of them were as glorious as the outrage of her younger brother. "AND YOU'RE MY SISTER?!"

Violet turned her body towards her family and offered a weak smile. 

"... Surprise?..."

\----

Buddy sat in the living room with a pair of NSA issued cuffs around his wrists listening in to the screaming match going on in the kitchen between Violet and her parents as he sat across from the real Incrediboys. Both of them stared at him as though they were waiting for permission to tear him apart.

“So. You brainwashed my sister huh?” Dash asked and Buddy shrugged. 

“I'm sure some would call it that but it was not my original intention."

"What was?" Jack-of-all-Trades asked and he pondered how to put the answer in a nice enough way that wouldn't get him or Violet in bigger shit.

"Well, technically, I was using her to advance my agenda-" 

"World domination?" The youngest Part sibling asked and Buddy shook his head before snubbing his nose. 

"Listen kid, if a villain ever tells you they are looking for world domination they are just dumb. Taking over the world is overrated and really not worth the effort."

"What if a villain says they want to destroy humanity?" Jac-Jack followed up.

"Well I-"

“Don’t talk to him Jack-Jack, he tried to kidnap you too,” Dash quickly snapped and the teen blinked at the news.

"You did?! I don’t remember that… Why would you do that Mr. Syndrome?"

"Revenge mostly," Buddy said simply. He'd rather be down below keeping Mirage’s double-crossing hands off of his stuff than playing 20 questions with the Parr boys but this game certainly beat being in the same room as Mr. and Mrs. Incredible. 

"Did you steal Violet for revenge too?"

"That's a mixed bag there, kid."

"Mixed how?" Dash asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Buddy clapped his cuffed hands together and brought them to his mouth as a temporary dam. What the hell was he supposed to say? He might be able to fool the still maturing teen super but the young man before him was certainly experienced enough to see past his colorful language. He opened his mouth again when he heard another car pulling in. Doors to a car opened and then came Apple running in, Winston and Rick trailing behind her. 

The Parr family had insisted on keeping the NSA at bay for the time being. Before he was to be handed off to the authorities, the Parr parents wanted to do their own investigation first. Mirage allowed the measure mainly because she was after WatchDog, but now that it was revealed that WatchDog was none other than Invisi-girl, things had become a bit more complicated. That reveal led to the invitation of Winston Deavor and Rick Dicker. 

Winston remained in the entryway where Rick had wanted to see Violet, but realizing the super was otherwise indisposed by her furious parents he looked for his fellow agent. 

"She's down the elevator," Buddy called, winning a death stare from the usually placid entity that was Dicker. Buddy smirked, priding himself in making the man break his composure. "Oh come on now, you really can't be that surprised to see me, right? How long ago was it that you told me to stay out of your way?"

Dicker gave a gruff growl before he made his way towards the elevator to reconnect with the Capitol NSA agent. 

Buddy's gaze followed the man until he was out of his line of vision. At that point, he moved his attention to Winston who's expression was less pleasing to see. 

The man was hurt. He was angry, but the pained look on his face was overwhelming for Buddy. Rising from his seat, Dash gave him a look of warning as his younger brother was tending to the innocent pup. 

"I'm just going to step outside to talk to Winston," Buddy said and Dash shook his head.

"You're just trying to run away," he started folding his arms as he rose to his feet. The middle child of the Parr family grew up to be tall, not as tall as his father, but Buddy had to lift his gaze to meet Dash's eyes. 

"You should hope for that, right? You'd have an excuse to knock my lights out," Buddy said in response and The Speedster seemed to like the idea of that. 

"I'll be coming for you in ten minutes if you aren't back in that seat," the hero warned before kneeling down beside the rescue dog. 

Free of the wrathful gazes of any of the Parr's, Buddy stepped out the front door with Winston Deavor. Looking over his shoulder to try to spy on the kitchen before turning his attention to the professional beside him. He wasn't even able to get a word in when Winston began the emotional barrage.

“Jimmy! How could you do this to me?! Oh my father must be rolling in his grave right now! A freaking super villain?! I went into business with a super villain? James you ought to be ashamed of yourself!"

“Win, my name isn’t James-”

“Oh, so everything about you is a lie then! I suppose next you are going to tell me that Apple’s name isn’t even Apple!”

“She was Fiona when I picked her up, so yeah, I guess that was a lie too.”

“Un-Be-Leave-Able! The shareholders are going to pull out if this gets out, and ooooo my sister is going to be loving this too! Why is it that I always seem to attract the worst people?! You’ve ruined me James, or, whatever the hell your name is!”

“It’s Buddy,” he replied while looking down at the pavement and Winston scoffed at the given name.

“You most certainly are not a buddy! You’re worse than my sister! You- you actually killed supers! Made me think I was tied to Violet’s death, hell I am still liable and complicit to the actions you managed to pull! And worst of all is that while all this stuff was going on you were acting like a real friend to me.”

“It was never personal Win-”

“Only my friends get to call me that! And you sir, are. not. my. friend.”

Buddy tried to speak when the outrage of Mr.Incredible could be heard from within the house.

\---

  
  


“How could you be working with him, him?!" Bob shouted as he circled the kitchen island. 

"Well I told you that I couldn’t get out at first, didn't I?!" Violet shouted back at her father from the dining room table. She had told her parents just about everything within reason. The kidnapping, the forced weapons tests, the villain guild members wanting to buy her and him protecting her, the pursuit of weeding out certain parts of the criminal underground. She left out the NSA and her feelings for their sake as well as her own.

"But you are still working with him!"

"And I'm trying to tell you guys that It’s complicated!'

Bob didn't acknowledge the comment. Instead, he threw his hands in the air as he paced the wooden floor, trying to decide what he would throw at Syndrome next. Helen however doesn't let the comment go.

“What do you mean by complicated, Violet?” Helen Parr asked, stepping closer to her daughter.

“Don’t read into it mom," Violet muttered as she turned her face away. “It’s not ideal but we make a pretty good team.”

“Violet, you aren’t telling us everything… What aren’t you saying?” Helen asked while refraining from clenching her teeth together.

Violet was a professional when it came to hiding, but when it came to her mother it was a lost cause. Helen ‘Elastigirl’ Parr could spot a lie from a mile away. 

“It’s nothing….” Violet mumbled quietly with her eyes on her hands. Helen’s eyes widened.

“Violet. Please tell me you aren’t-”

“Wait, mom! You always said I should put myself out there again!” Violet quickly stated as she got to her feet.

“YES! BUT NOT LIKE THIS!”

“Not like what? Someone fill me in!” Bod said from the other side of the kitchen trying to find where Syndrome kept the knives.

“Your daughter is involved with Syndrome.”

“MOM!” Violet screamed but her father gave a roll of his eyes and looked back to the ladies in his life.

“Well I already knew that honey,” Robert said with a smile. “I’m really glad you got back into the family business, sweetie but was all this really necessary? I mean, you would have a statue on every street corner if you turned Syndrome in-”

“Nobody remembers him, Dad. They only cared about the robot,” Violet said, thankful for her father steering the conversation away but Helen wasn’t going to let this go. 

“No Bob, you aren’t listening.”

“Yes I am, Violet is working with Syndrome.”

“Bob. Your daughter isn’t just defending Syndrome or working with him. She is  _ involved _ with him.”

The room went quiet as Violet and Helen watched Robert’s masked face configure to the words that his wife just fed him. One could swear that you could hear the gears in Mr. Incredible’s head turn before the light bulb went off. 

“YOU DID WHAT?!”

Violet cursed and went invisible before her mother could grab her. She ran out for the front door where Syndrome was in conversation with Winston and she dragged him away from the door. 

“Ah, Violet? What did you do?” Buddy asked nervously as he saw Mr. Incredible stomp towards them. 

“You slept with my daughter?!”

“Oh, yeah, that’ll do it,” Buddy said, letting Violet guide him onto the lawn.

“You’re going to wish you died from that jet crash! I’m going to kill you, Syndrome, and not quickly either!” Mr. Incredible growled and the red headed man felt fear go through his system again, but rather than run he embraced the oncoming death, confident that Violet would shield him from it. 

“Actually, I go by Buddy now. You can even ask Violet as she was screaming it just last night,” he said with a smug grin as Mr. Incredible lifted his arms above his head, intending on breaking every bone in the villain's body. 

Violet brought up a shield as she let herself be seen again as she glared at Buddy who was too busy having a staring contest with her father. “Was that really necessary?” she hissed as her father continued to wail on the near invisible dome surrounding them. 

“Probably not, but this is,” Buddy smiled as he leaned in closer to her and stole a quick kiss from her lips. Violet didn’t return the affection, but she didn’t have to. Seeing the lips of the murderous psychopath sent Mr. Incredible’s blood over a boiling point. 

Violet shifted gears and turned the forcefield around onto her father. Delivering a heated look back to Buddy, Violet nodded to the house. 

“Please go hide in your den-”

“Oh no he, he stays here,” Helen called as she and Violet’s brothers made their way outside. “I’m calling on a family meeting!” The Parr children all collectively groaned, Dash making it the biggest deal of all. 

“Why?! We just got Violet back?”

“Because your sister is romantically tangled with a villain,” Helen growled, folding her arms and the brothers both gasped before replying with ‘gross’ in unison. 

“You know that me being here for a family meeting implies that I’m part of the family, right?” Buddy asked as he threw a pair of finger guns Bob’s way, forgetting that Winston was still on standby. 

“Wait, you’re dating Violet now?!” Winston shouted from the doorway. 

“No!” Robert, Helen and Violet shouted, Buddy on the other hand countered that with a very smug ‘yep’, earning a vicious glare from the family matriarch.

“Syndrome, you aren’t a part of the family, you are in this meeting because you are the problem,” Helen stated clearly before looking at Violet. “I don’t get what you are doing here, with him?! HIM!? He’s a killer- a criminal of the worst kind!”

“That’s rich coming from you,” Violet stated as she folded her arms, the hold on her father was still intact. “I seem to remember you telling me about a star-crossed romance you had before dad-”

“Hey, this isn’t about me, this is about you!”

“Actually I kinda want to hear about this bad guy fling you had, mom,” Dash said, taking a glance over to his mother.

“Yeah,” Buddy agreed, looking at Bob once again who was back to trying to process what he was hearing again. “It sounds like enjoying bad boys runs in the family.”

“Buddy, you aren’t helping,” Violet urged before looking back to her mother. 

“He’s too old for you!” Helen pointed out. It was Buddy who averted his gaze now and Helen went on the attack mode. “Like robbing from the cradle, in fact that is exactly what it’s like, you kidnapped her!”

“In my defense,” Buddy started with raising his cuffed hands, “supers tend to have an average lifespan of 47 years so I’d say that kind of equals out the age gap.”

“Mom, am I going to die in my forties?” Jack-Jack asked and Helen placed a comforting hand onto her child’s shoulder. 

“Sweetie, nothing bad is going to happen to you, stop listening to the bad man,” Helen cooed before looking back to Violet and Buddy. “You’ve got what, 10 years on her and a kill count that’s in the triple digits at least?”

“And Xerex had at least a hundred years on you and who knows how many bodies!”

“Woah, woah, woah, hold the phone, Xerex? Like zapping life force out of other supers Xerex?” Buddy asked as he supported his chin on top of his fists as the Parr men focused on Elastigirl again.

“Helen?!”

“Mom?”

“Vi, I told you that in confidence while under the influence of wine,” Helen Parr groaned in frustration. She shook her head and brought a hand over her face while trying to come to the next argument point, one that didn’t have to do with Syndrome.” I want to hear in what scenario you two end up living happily ever after… I want to know how long you two think this will last? Violet, honey, your father and I, we’ve got history, and we are a united front… That’s why it didn’t work with Xerex and me. We weren’t on the same side, and I’m worried that you’ll try to go down the wrong path to keep him in your life.”

Buddy was at a loss again. Elastigirl, as usual, was right. They were of different worlds and while running away and going into hiding was his version of walking off into the sunset, Violet wanted more than a provincial life in a snowy cabin. She wasn’t vocal about it, but she still looked ready to start tearing the NSA a new one. He had already corrupted her beyond repair. 

The field went tense, waiting for someone to have a comeback. But Violet had nothing to fight. 

Dropping the force field around her father, Violet quietly retreated back to the house without pulling Buddy along. Everyone watched Violet as she crossed the yard and didn’t look away until she was back inside. Once she was gone all eyes were back on Syndrome who was still watching the house until Mr. Incredible’s hand grabbed onto his shoulder. Buddy resigned any hope of coming out without a broken bone at the very least. 

He flinched, waiting to feel his jaw shatter into a thousand pieces, or for his whole world to go black, but he felt Mr. Incredible’s grip release and opening his eyes he saw Violet coming back out, carrying a stack of newspapers. Handing off the dated papers to the members of her family, Violet held up an article from their first villain, The Puppet Master. 

“If it’s possible for me to go down the wrong path it’s equally plausible for him to start walking up the right path,” Violet stated before grabbing Buddy by the hand and led him back inside. 

Bewildered by it all, Buddy eyed Winston as they walked right by and the executive offered a smile before following them in. 

  
  


\---

Rick Dicker sat in a chair across from Violet Parr and Buddy ‘Syndrome’ Pine. It wasn’t something that he had believed could happen but here they all were, sitting in Pine’s sound proof den. It had been a decade since he had even thought about the name Syndrome, but while the files on him were no longer in existence he still remembered the physical paperwork that had been collected on the bastard posthumously. At least, that’s what he had believed. And in Violet’s case, well, she was supposed to be dead as well. In his head, he hated the pairing, but given the information he had, the two looked like a perfect match on paper.

“What is the play here, Pine? We both know that you're not doing this vigilante stuff out of the good of your heart,” the agent grumbled as a tape recorder sat between them. 

“You’re right, Dick, I don’t do anything for free,” Buddy said with a smug grin until Violet gave him a jab to the ribs and the two exchanged warning glances to each other. “I’m the techie of the WatchDog operation as well as the insider. I had the benefit of weeding out the people your agency can't seem to get or chooses to not pursue while I get to raise the prices on my products to clients. I don't have the numbers in front of me but I think since WatchDog came onto the scene I've gained a considerable amount of new clients and revenue. Anyway the cashflow, well, it's high. Really high."

"Uh huh. And I don't suppose you get other benefits out of this too," Rick pressed, ignoring Syndrome's purposeful name error.

"Well pissing off Mr. Incredible is a reward in itself, as well as making the NSA look as sloppy as it is," Buddy replied. 

"And you actually believe that you are doing the citizens of this great country a favor by participating in vigilante work?"

Buddy would have been more than happy to answer that question but Violet leaned forward and hit the stop button on the recorder and met the eyes of Dicker.

"Violet, please don't tamper with government equipment."

"I want to know about the SRA," she whispered.

"You lived the Super Relocation Act, there is nothing to tell you that you don't already know," Rick sighed and motioned to start the recorder again but Violet trapped it within a force field and shook her head. 

"That isn't the one I meant."

Dicker was notorious for his poker face, especially when it came to the interview process, but with Violet's words he raised his eyebrows and let his jaw fall ever so slightly. 

"Nobody is supposed to know about that."

"But you know?" Violet snapped. "You knew that the NSA was snuffing out super kids?!" Violet asked furiously as she got to her feet.

"Yes."

"And you still worked for them?! How?! How did you stay in when they ordered the murders?!”

“Because if I left, who do you think would have protected you kids?” Rick asked without raising his voice. Even in the face of an elite and enraged super, the agent remained calm, cool and collected. “I wasn’t happy about it. I’m still not happy about it. But I can’t change the past nor could I convince others that it was wrong. I did what I could for your parents and I don’t regret that. Not just because of who you and your brothers are or what you have done for the public, but because it’s been a privilege to see what fine young people that you’ve turned into.”

The force field that was around the tape recorder was released but Dicker didn’t reach for it.

“Violet, as long as we are being transparent here, I need to know if you plan on telling anyone else about the SRA.”

Violet shook her head as she sat down again. “No. You can thank Buddy for that.”

“I’m not obligated to thank people for doing the responsible thing. What I am obligated to do however is to protect the agency from potential risks. When I was down in Syndrome’s lair, Mirage and I saw that the computer system had tracked all the information that could be pulled on a Paul Colton Senior. Does that name mean anything to you?”

Violet shook her head before looking up to Buddy. A moment ago he looked like the cat that ate the canary, but now his expression was more akin to being the canary before it was eaten. 

“Buddy, who is that?” Violet asked but Buddy kept his mouth shut.

“For a time, Mr. Colton was the chair for the NSA oversight committee while he was in office as a senator,” Rick stated, also observing the worried villain across from him. “While he was in office he drafted both of the SRAs. The one that made your parents go into hiding, and the one that was meant to make sure no new generation of supers would ever reach the age of five. Does that name mean something else to you, Syndrome?”

Buddy nodded slowly.

“His son is a part of the criminal network I was, or still am loosely affiliated with,” Buddy said looking down to meet the eyes of Violet briefly before looking back at Rick. “Is he still alive?”

“He is. And he’s happily retired now. Living with said son.”

“Great, so we can’t touch him,” Buddy said quickly, and Violet stood up again.

“What are you talking about?! Buddy do you know what this means?! The NSA was ordered by some freaking super villains to kill supers so they could take over! It means that the agency was manipulated and used by the bad guys! We have to take them down now!”

“It also highly implies that there may be agents on the inside that are working both sides of the aisle,” Buddy said as he kept his eyes away from the woman, purely focused on the agent in front of him. “That there is no one in the NSA to trust and that we should have gotten the hell out of dodge while we still had the chance.”

“You said that we could get this last name! We got it, and we can take down a major criminal syndicate while we are at it too! Two birds, one stone, you like those!”

“Not when the stone is trying to take down an eagle and a vulture on one throw! This won’t work, we don’t know how deep this goes. We can’t attack this without risking everything, don’t you get that Violet? It’s not just cutting off a finger or amputating a leg to save the body- it’s the whole system that is fucked and we can’t save it,” Buddy snapped at Violet before looking back to possibly the only agent that was trustworthy. “Besides you and Mirage, does anyone else know that you have me right now?”

Rick nodded his head. 

“Mirage and I agreed that you’re a special case and should be handled within the circle, however there were a few agents who were assigned to investigate your dealings with DevTech. I trust them though.”

“No offense, but you didn’t even recognize me with a pair of shades on, any one of those guys could be in on this and I’m not waiting around to find out,” Buddy said as he looked at Violet and held up his cuffed hands. “They are coming for us Vi, it’s going to be pretty obvious to my former associates that I didn’t actually lose you soon enough- get me out of these things so we can hide before we disappear for good!”

“We can still win,” Violet said before looking at Rick. “If WatchDog brings up this evidence to the FBI, could they detain them? Could the government temporarily shut down the NSA to clear the house of all the insurgents?”

“Violet, please I’m begging you-”

“If you bring in the father and son with the evidence… I believe that could start to turn the ship right again,” Rick answered. That was all Violet needed to hear. 

“I want immunity for Buddy,” Violet stated, surprising both of the men in the room. 

“I can’t promise you that. He still needs to answer for his crimes, Violet. What I can offer is his safety. We can get him into protective custody in our Westberg facility. Once he’s detained and the Colton’s are dealt with we can negotiate his fate.”

“Or we can just go right now,” Buddy pleaded, winning her attention again. “Forget everything else okay, this isn’t worth it, Parr.”

Violet took hold of Buddy’s hands and held them tight. a moment he believed that she would ignore the high road, that she’d break him out and the two could run off like the Bonnie and Clyde couple they played so well, but Bonnie and Clyde didn’t make it out alive either. She shook her head at him and he felt his heart plummet even as she kissed his forehead in front of the agent who was determined to see him rot in a jail cell. 

“I’m not doing this for anyone else but us, Buddy. We’re going to be alright. We can be on the same side, you can be seen for the good that’s in you,” Violet whispered and he shook his head in disagreement. 

“You’re killing me Vi.”

“No Buddy. I’m trying to save you,” Violet replied before releasing his hands and opening the secured door of the den to prepare for the mission that could buy their happy ending.


	23. Torsades de Pointes

Buddy watched the security monitors like a hawk in his tech lab as Mirage downloaded every single bite of information from his database. His gaze was primarily set on the outside perimeter, though every now and then his eyes would find their way to Violet's image as she got ready to take care of the Colton’s. 

“I distinctly remember you saying that you had a thing for older women,” Mirage said without looking at him but the comment forced him to look her way. He had been forced to dwell down here with his ex-something-or-other so he couldn’t pester Violet to reconsider her current objective. 

“What are you talking about?”

“Bob told me about your fling with his daughter,” Mirage informed him, bitterness in her voice. 

“Oh… So it’s  _ Bob _ now,” Buddy muttered as he turned his head to the camera. “Do you fuck every super you meet, or is it just the blond ones?” he asked and Mirage turned her chair towards him. Where she was furious he was wholly indifferent. Surprisingly, it was hard to even act out emotion when you knew your life was over.

“I haven’t slept with him,” Mirage muttered before turning back to her work. “He’s married.”

“I’m pretty sure Gamma Jack was too,” Buddy said watching the Incredible family standing together in a semicircle. He wasn’t informed on the situation but it looked as though the Parr’s would all be going to take down the Colton’s together. “That didn’t stop you then, did it?”

His eyes were forced from the screen and into a pair of familiar green eyes. 

“You told me to bring you supers by any means necessary, and I did. So don’t act so superior here.” 

“It’s often said that cheaters are more prone to jealousy, but I didn’t take you for the jealous type,” Buddy scoffed as he snubbed his nose with his thumb and shrugged. “And I didn’t mind you fucking him as the way of bringing him in, it was you begging me not to bring him back that did it for me.”

“He was a security risk! Daniel was under constant watch and he -” Mirage stopped as she realized that she had used his secret identity and Buddy smirked at the giveaway. 

She took a step back and then turned back to the loading screen. She had started this process shortly after the Parr family reunion which had happened hours ago and they still had another 8 hours at least before the data was completely mined. Thankfully, Buddy would be transported within the next two hours and she could remain alone with his data. His beautiful and glorious codes that transcended much of what she had thought possible. Even though she still loathed the man his mind was still as gorgeous as ever. 

“It’s not like you actually cared about what I did. Like everything else in your life I was just an object to you. A thing to claim or to even throw aside if the mood suited you.”

Buddy rolled his eyes at the melodrama the woman was performing. 

“Jesus, you will not let that go, will you?” he asked as he stood from the chair and clasped his still cuffed hands together in prayer. “I called his bluff but you know something, I think you really get off on the idea of that man just breaking you in half.”

Mirage cast a set of murderous eyes his way and Buddy chuckled.

“Yeah… that’s what I thought. Fuck it. I didn’t think I’d ever want to even look at you again but I’m thankful for this time that we have together now, so let’s just clear the air. Yes. I love older women, usually, because they are far more challenging to please, but you, nooooo. You saw me for exactly what I am. Easy money. I don’t hate you for it, in fact, I probably liked you more for it! Good for you taking advantage of the system and an extra kudos for bagging the one rich guy who wasn’t old enough to be your daddy.”

“How dare you! I gave you everything I had. I was willing to give you my life-”

“Let’s play out that scene again, shall we? Mr. Incredible- no, _ Bob _ ! BOB snatches you up instead of me because you pushed me out of the way. You sacrificed yourself knowingly, which I was and still am thankful for. Now if I gave in to BOB’s empty threat, guess what, I’d still be dead, and your little maneuver to save me from harm’s way would have only bought me time in your dream scenario. You think you were saving me, but all you were doing was just making it a longer process for me to die. I saw door number three and I took it to save both of us.”

“You could have tried harder at least,” Mirage muttered but shook her head. “But I guess it doesn’t matter anyway. You still lost. Even if I didn’t send the Incredibles your way, you still couldn’t have fixed the mess you created. The Incredibles just saved you the embarrassment of having the least amount of time in the job of being a hero.”

Buddy rubbed at his temples. Mirage was, prior to the arrival of Mr. Incredible, a pushover but now she was just a nuisance. He had no problem admitting that he enjoyed a good fight but Mirage didn’t meet the qualifications he was looking for in a sparring partner. She was as cold as ice. Maybe he was still boiling mad about her betrayal. Ultimately, he just couldn’t stop himself from laughing. 

“Okay, I get it, I suck at being good. I’m terrible at being a good son, a good partner, a good hero- Hell, maybe you would have a ring on your finger right now if we just kept up the bad guy part of the game together- and good news, we might have even gotten a contract with the NSA too,” Mirage made a face of confusion and he just gave a nod. “Oh yeah. The NSA was in the business of killing supers before we unleashed that robot, the only difference is that your current employer liked targeting kids, so how do you like them apples? I don’t want to give myself any credit here, but you know it could be argued that if I didn’t fuck up my plan so bad, super babies would still be getting smothered in their cribs. If you don’t believe me, you can ask whoever you report to before you suck their dick,” Buddy said before he crashed back into the chair he was seated in. 

Sharp silence filled the air between them briefly before Mirage eyed him again. 

“What the hell does she see in you anyway,” Mirage muttered. 

“Beats me,” Buddy said with a shrug, catching the image of a dove in one of the security cameras. He knew he should have brought back the robotic bird alarms but it was too late to dwell on the cracks in his foundation. “If it wasn’t for you I could be asking her that right now while sailing off to my least favorite property. She told me that she loves me if you can believe that.”

“I can’t,” Mirage said with a hollow laugh. “I find it hard for anyone to like you let alone love you but she is young, inexperienced even, but she is obviously attached to you, even more than I was. What sort of mind control did you use to gain that amount of trust?"

"It's not the money I can tell you that much."

"Poor thing doesn't have a clue what she got herself into… You're a ride to be had for sure-"

"I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Mira," Buddy cut in before Mirage spun his chair back around again. 

"But do you even care about her? Like honestly, are you actually capable of loving anyone other than yourself?" Mirage asked and Buddy's expression soured but he didn’t argue as she continued the interrogation. “If you gave an ounce of concern for the girl, I don’t think you would have dragged her into this.”

“This was her idea actua-”

“No Buddy, it’s your shit show,” Mirage pressed. “When the time comes you are going to go onto the stand and say that all of this was you, because my superiors want to burn WatchDog at the stake. Had you not uprooted Violet from sticking to her plain Jane life she’d be safe from scrutiny but after the little stunt she pulled with the media yesterday? I guarantee you that she’s going up to a level A security threat from here on out, but it's going to be your words that will dictate if she’s going to live out the rest of her natural life without worry of someone always ready to pull the trigger on her.”

“You know what, I would actually pay some good money to see your current employers even try to take out Vi, so how about you lift up the flags on my account and I can start letting those bills fly.”

“And there he is! There’s the man I remember.”

“What?”

“You just throw wealth around without having to consider how your gambling affects the lives of those around you!”

“You didn’t have a problem with me doing that when I was throwing money at you. So let’s get this negotiation over with. How much is it going to cost me to get these cuffs off my wrist? How much do you want to get you to say that I overpowered you and got away?”

Mirage sat back down and crossed her legs while staring down her former employer and lover.

“Do you love her?”

“Jealousy really isn’t your color Mira,” Buddy teased as Mirage leaned forward.

“Because if you do I implore you to reconsider your attitude on this issue. Break her heart now, and let everyone know that you’ve manipulated her to serve your own selfish dark desires. She’ll get over you, it’s not a difficult task to do, believe me. She’ll survive you. She won’t, however, survive the system if you drag her down with that chain of yours wrapped around her neck. Let her go so she doesn’t drown. It’s really the least that you can do.”

Buddy bit his tongue with one of his canines. Mirage, regrettably, had a point.

Violet was handing herself over on a silver platter to the NSA. She believed that she was doing everyone a service for exposing the cancer that was in the system, but what she was really doing was making herself a bigger target. Showing those in control that she was someone who wasn’t afraid to cause trouble. Mirage was given a break since he was out of the picture, but Violet was looking for a package deal that didn’t exist. The only thing that would be waiting for Violet would likely be a maximum security cell where she’d be fed nothing but drugs and crackers or the end of a rifle.

“What do I say to her?”

Mirage raised an eyebrow in surprise as she turned her back to him to observe the download again. 

“You’re the genius. Practically a prodigy when it comes to being an asshole. I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”

\---

The NSA transport team had arrived at last and it was Dicker who led Buddy out of his lair. Before the two could make it out of the house, Violet was lying in wait in the living room with the rest of her family, Winston and Apple. If it was up to Dicker and himself, they would have pushed for the caravan of government vehicles but Violet was blocking their path with her body rather than her shields. Given the situation, Violet wouldn’t be able to join the escort so she was making this their goodbye until she came out on the other side of this. 

“Rick, can I steal him for a minute?”

Rick sighed and released Buddy’s arm. “Five minutes, and then he goes.”

Violet nodded in agreement before pulling Buddy aside and out of sight into the kitchen. She had apologetic eyes, but her convictions were pretty clear. She lifted herself up onto her toes to meet his mouth with hers but he turned his head away. 

“Buddy-”

“Save it. This game is over,” Buddy muttered quickly, catching Violet off guard. She wasn’t expecting the hostility from the man who had been full of passion towards her just the night before. 

“Look I’m sorry okay. I really am but you know I’m doing this to help you, right? You’ll get to walk in the sun again if we play this right! I know it isn’t what you want but this is the first step in proving that you aren’t all bad. That you can change for the better.”

“No Parr, this is you being naive again,” Buddy growled. “In fact, this entire time you’ve been blind to the bigger picture here.”

“I know you’re just trying to be cruel.”

“You’ve been a pawn this entire time, Parr. From the minute that I brought you here I had the intentions of corrupting you. I’ve had my finger on you this whole time, even when you thought that you were in control I was leading you towards my side of the business.”

“That’s not true,” Violet said, taking hold of his hands but he tore himself away.

“You wouldn’t think so because I managed to control you without the use of my tech. I got inside your head. It was difficult, frustrating at times going for the long game, but damn did you fall for it,” Buddy said with a laugh and Violet temporarily took a step back. 

“You’re just trying to push me away because you don’t think this will work. You don’t think that people can see what you can be, what I see when I look at you! You-”

“Actually I’m throwing you away,” he corrected, raising his voice loud enough to make sure there was no mistaking from anyone about what he was saying to her.. “Why do you think I never had you test out my criminal line of products? I wasn’t trying to find the flaws in them, I already knew their weaknesses. All those hours you spent in the testing chambers, I just wanted to get you acclimated to fighting the good stuff… I can’t believe you didn’t see that I was making you the weapon.”

“That’s a lie! What is your problem?!”

“ _ I knew about your fuck up on the pier, _ ” Buddy could see that was the killing blow, but he was the kind of guy who would beat a dead horse. “I knew this whole time what you were capable of. You’re a better killing machine than I could ever hope to replicate! I’ve been tracking your applications to the NSA for years, and every time you got that rejection notice I knew you were going to be that much easier to turn. Sure, I had to throw some of my own under the bus, but you can’t make an omelet without cracking a few eggs. Made you really think that you were doing the world a public service when really we were just causing a whole lot of chaos.”

“Why are you saying this!?” Violet asked with fresh tears streaming down her face.

“And to think that you were even willing to fight off your family for me. That was unexpected, but I guess that love makes people do truly stupid things.”

“Buddy, I’m begging you to stop this please and actually acknowledge what we have! What we have been able to do together, what you feel-”

“It’s laughable that you think that I could actually fall for you. I mean, me? In love with Mr. Incredible’s daughter? You’re the joke of the fucking century, Parr. You were never more than a tool to me. A hopeless super with no one in your life to notice when you were gone.”

“Alright, that’s it! I’ve heard enough out of you,” Rick muttered as he marched back into the kitchen and hauled the villain out of the room by the back of his shirt, ignoring the laughter that the detainee was emitting. 

“But hey, if you’re ever in need of a good time you know where to find me for a conjugal visit now,” Buddy shouted from over his shoulder as he was dragged out to the front of the house and towards the vehicles that would lead him to his half life. 

Rick ripped one of the rear passenger doors open and shoved the man into the seat with Mr. Incredible and Winston watching from the doorway but Buddy didn’t let his eyes stray in that direction, not bothering to see if those midnight eyes followed him. It was a relief when Rick slammed the door on him and gave the order to drive off with two slaps on the roof of the car. He didn’t look back as they pulled away from his house, knowing he was leaving the one thing that ever felt like home as a broken mess. 

\---

Violet sobbed uncontrollably in the still made bed that belonged to her worst enemy as her mother stroked her back. She was invisible to the eye, but one could find the indent on the sheets and the damp spot made by her tears. 

“I tried to warn you, sweetie,” Mrs. Parr whispered as her hand felt over the form of her daughter. “I just wish that we were able to get to you before it got too deep.”

“I told him that I loved him,” the invisible woman cried out. “I’m such an idiot!”

“No, you aren’t Vi. He’s a villain and he exploited you, but that doesn’t make you less. He’s the one at fault here. Why, by the time his trial comes around we’ll be throwing popcorn at the tv, cheering on the jury to find him guilty!”

Violet sniffled before making herself visible again and rolled over to her back to look at her mother who gave her a sympathetic smile. She didn’t understand where she went wrong, she thought she had read him. Thought that he… She needed to change the subject.

“Why didn’t you tell us we can only have kids with other supers?”

Helen frowned at the question. It was an error in judgment on her part but it wasn’t done maliciously. Moving the hair out of her daughter’s face, Helen gave a hearty sigh as she summoned the right words. 

“Well, we didn’t bring it up when you were kids because we were so focused on just letting you be kids. Then you started dating Tony and your father and I debated over if we should tell you then but it was your first boyfriend and we didn’t want to spoil young love. Of course, it reached a point that we figured that you two were going to be together no matter what.”

“I still had the right to know. And so did he.”

Helen nodded in agreement as she wiped away the tears on her daughter’s face. 

“I’m sorry we kept that from you, Vi. You are right… but please don’t blame me if I’m not so quick to tell Dash. I’d really prefer him to wear protection at all times.”

Violet snorted, a few straggling tears breaking free as she nodded. “Okay, mom.”

“Now. What do you say we show Syndrome who you really are and go get those criminals you were talking to Rick about as a family. Just like old times?”

“I’d like that,” Violet whispered as she sat up to hug her mother. “Thanks, mom. Sorry about the digs on Xerex before-”

“Don’t even mention it. I’m really hoping that your father forgot that we talked about him too.”

\---

Buddy rested his head against the leather headrest of the seat as he kept his eyes outside of his window, losing himself in the trees that sped past. He didn’t say a word to either of the agents sitting in front of him and they remained silent as well. Breaking the silence the roar of an engine flared behind them and chatter came up on the radio. 

“Potential hostile on our six,” a voice broke out. Buddy smirked and shook his head. He had figured that Dr. Schmerzen or another figure from the guild would just send in an assassin when he was behind bars. Make it quick and clean. Clearly underestimated how much he had pissed off his old friends. 

Buddy heard the engine and it sounded familiar to him. Looking over his shoulder to see what chariot death was driving his eyes went wide when he saw that it was his sports car. He couldn't see who was behind the tinted windows but he had an idea of who it could be. Mr. Incredible to break his spine for breaking his daughter’s heart was the preferred person to be behind the wheel, but he feared that Violet was the one tailing them to get in one last screaming match.

The car cut off the front car and the agents immediately went into defensive positions, ready to unload the rounds within their issued weapons until they saw who exited the driver’s door of the sports car. Buddy was dreading the sight of raven locks emerging from behind the door but instead they were confronted with the salt and pepper hairdo that belonged to Winston Deavor. He jumped right out of the seat and began rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.

“Alright, Jimmy! Get out here and let’s settle this like men!”

The agents in Buddy’s vehicle looked at each other before looking back to the ginger seated behind them and he nodded. 

“Yeah. He’s referring to me.”

The agent who was driving nodded and rolled down his window to speak to the irate executive. 

“Mr. Deavor, if you could please get back in your vehicle-”

“Hey, I really hate pulling out this card but I quite literally pay your salary, so if you are hoping for an end of year bonus I suggest you unlock these doors right now!" Winston insisted. The agents looked at each other again before the one in the passenger seat shrugged and unlocked the door. 

Buddy blinked at the sound of the locks popping up and before he knew what was happening Winston managed to pull him from the vehicle and down to the pavement. 

“What the hell Jimmy?!"

"It's Buddy, Win," he said, wincing as he attempted to tend to the back of his head with his cuffed hands.

"Jimmy, Buddy, Syndrome, Skippy, Mother Thresa- I don't care what your name is! I was having a hard time believing that you did what you did in the past until I just witnessed what you did to that poor girl! You really are a villain!"

"No shit," Buddy sighed heavily at the statement as sat up and gestured his cuffs by waving them before throwing his hands down again. "Can you please go home Win, or hell you can kick the crap out of me if you want but just make it quick, I've got a date with my peers coming up in a couple of months that I'm going to want to miss but can’t."

"No! You're not going anywhere until you tell me why you lied to her like that!"

"I didn't lie, Win. It's the truth. I kidnapped Violet to use her," Buddy stated before the man crouched In front of him. Buddy flinched as he raised his hand but was surprised to find a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

"You did lie though. You said that you didn't care about her… but you do. You might have fooled everyone else back there but there is no tricking this love guru. I just don't get how you could do that to her, why would you push her away? She only wanted to help! To give you a chance!"

"What the fuck was I supposed to do?!" Buddy shouted back, startling the man before him. Buddy clenched his fists tightly before relaxing the muscles again. He hated the restraints that were on him nearly as much as the restraints he had placed upon himself. He cast his eyes to the agents that were still within the cars. None of them could be trusted, but at this point Buddy figured that Violet and her family were already on their way to pay the Colton’s a surprise visit.

She was safe. She would be okay.

“You were in the service, Winston. You know that supers who fraternize with the bad guys don’t get a pass. They get a black spot and I can’t recall any sup who managed to have a good life after getting caught with the enemy, do you?”

Winston’s faces contorted through a range of emotions as he considered the statement that was made by his former business partner. Winston’s face slowly lit up but he gave the man a sorry look.

"You did that to give her a fighting chance,” Winston whispered and he reached out to grab Buddy by both of his shoulders, giving him a congratulatory shake. “Jimmy, er, uh, I mean Buddy- you saved her! You saved Violet! Oh I knew that you cared!”

Buddy smirked at Winton’s enthusiasm over the situation. At least someone could be happy here.

“Violet can’t know, okay? You gotta keep this to yourself,” Buddy said firmly as Winston helped them both upright again. 

“Buddy, you have my word, Violet will never know,” he said before looking down the road to see more Black SUV’s make their way towards them. “Aw jeez, that must be backup. I better explain the situation and let them know that I’ll stay out of the way from here on out,” Winston said as he gave a wave to the oncoming line of luxury black cars, but Buddy recognized that the models were different.

Without hesitation, Buddy tackled Winston to the ground just before a hail of bullets began reigning down upon the NSA caravan. 

The agents assigned to bring Pine into Westburg began to return fire, but the men were outnumbered and certainly outgunned. Buddy began looking for a way out but there was nowhere to run or hide and he cursed Mr. Incredible for breaking the one thing that could have saved him and Winston. 

The gunfire stopped and commands were being barked in Spanish.

“Win, whatever happens, please just let me do the talking,” Buddy growled gently as he was pulled off of Winston and had a black sack thrown over his head.

Winston, panicked by the whole affair, attempted to make a break for it but still ended up experiencing the same fate as Buddy, only he was provided a zip tie cuffs in addition to the bag over his head and the pair were led to the new caravan.

“Hey! What’s going on? Where are you taking us?! I know my rights!” Winston shouted through his bag.

“Win, please stop talking-”

“What’s the big idea here?!”

“Dr. Schmerzen is most displeased with you, Mr. Pine,” stated one of the men. “He has requested your company, and we’re taking the liberty of bringing along a plus one. ”

  
  
  
  
  
  



	24. Separation Anxiety

Violet watched behind the tinted face shield as Colton Jr. and Senior were placed within FBI custody and placed into their transport vans to be booked for their involvement in terrorist activity. She was happy to see some minute form of justice would be served but she was still disappointed for how things didn't turn out her way.

She had wanted to interrogate the bastard who sought to wipe out a whole generation of supers. She had wanted to make a real example out of them. She still wanted the world to know about what he and others within the NSA did. She also wished that this method of giving up her ideal form of justice would have afforded her the opportunity to save a man from himself. But it was clear that he only wanted to set the world on fire after all.

Looking to her family again, Violet dreaded the weeks that were to come. News about Syndrome's return on the TV, the interviews and interrogations that would take place, the trial. To top it off, Dash would likely never let her live it down that she slept with a villain but she deserved that ridicule.

Boarding Syndrome's aircraft again, Violet removed the mask and seated herself in the pilot's seat as she waited for her family to settle in. 

"That suit is pretty cool Vi, I gotta say," Dash said as he made his way up to the open cockpit and took the co-pilot chair. "And I don't think I've ever seen you so fluid in a fight like that before! And oh, oh, oh, the faces that people make when they try to punch you but hit thin but solid air?! It's hilarious!"

"I just want to know why nobody ever asked why an oil family would have so much security on their personal property," Helen started from the back of the aircraft. 

"Well, I just want to know which one of Syndrome's buddies we can put away next!" Bob said as he closed the sealed door. "Tell me you got some names for us, kiddo!"

Violet smiled weakly and shrugged as she looked over the controls. She nearly hit the coordinates for 'home' but recalled that it wasn't actually her home anymore. But she didn't know what was home either. Rick briefly mentioned that Violet Parr was as good as dead. There was no pulling her back out of the wreckage that Syndrome made, not after hundreds of thousands of people heard on the news that she had died. And going with the angle that she was kidnapped by Syndrome would cause questions for sure, leading someone to eventually wonder why someone as influential and devious as Syndrome would ever want to keep a corporate intern hostage. 

Why would he see her as anything other than a tool to be used for his advantage?

"I dunno, dad. I know this is fun and all but I'd really just like to go home."

"Well sure sweetie, we can take a breather. We'll get you settled back in with us and then after a few days we can go bag the next ones!"

Violet smiled and nodded before looking at her mother. Standing up again, Violet offered the pilot's seat to her and retreated to the back of the aircraft. 

"Was there anything back at Syndrome's that you wanted to pick up and take home?" 

"Apple, the dog that we-..." Violet said quietly but shook her head. "I'm pretty sure that Winston already has dibs on her."

\---

Mirage resisted the urge to rub at her eyes as she made her way up the elevator in Buddy's mansion. There was a good deal of surprises as of late for the white hat. Her former employer and lover was still alive, and that was the same case for the daughter of Mr. Incredible. It was obvious that the two were working together to both help their own selfish needs as of late and it was very apparent that the two were not only business partners but deeply intimate as well. The biggest surprise of today was a toss-up however was between Buddy Pine actually having a heart or the fact that he had a dog. 

A dog that was getting its slobber on her very expensive skirt.

“Does any one of you know where Winston is?” Mirage shouted as she walked out of the elevator with Apple running ahead to greet an agent. “He left me with this thing, said it would be 20 minutes and that was almost four hours ago!”

“Agent Mirage, I think you should calm down,” came the voice of Rick Dicker who emerged from the kitchen with two cups of coffee and he held one out to her. “I believe he took Buddy’s car out for a bit of a joy ride. I’m sure he’ll be back soon, if the car hasn’t run out of gas that is anyway.”

Mirage took the cup gratefully and shook her head. “I can’t believe that man used to be a government agent.”

“I’m sure some folks think the same thing of you,” Dicker said with a half-smirk. “Former villainess turned to one of the top agents the NSA has… Pretty unbelievable if you ask me." 

Mirage smirked and eyed the domain they stood in with scrutiny. The interior design of the place was worse than the last place she recalled Buddy owning. Maybe worse wasn't it, but it was simpler. Less even. 

"I can't believe I didn't notice that he was still around."

"Nobody is going to blame you for that, the guy was supposed to have gone through a jet engine. Not even a super could survive that."

"That man was always trying to do the impossible," Mirage noted before moving towards the fireplace. "Nearly got away with it all too had he not bit more than he could chew."

The front doors opened and all eyes were on a bloodied agent who was staggering into the room. Dicker recognized that it was one of the drivers in Syndrome’s escort mission. The seasoned agents set their mugs aside and approached the wounded man. 

“Sir, we were attacked en route,” the man breathed as he was ushered into the building and led to the couch to rest as another man sought out a medical kit.

“By who? How long ago?” Dicker asked and the man shook his head.

“About three hours ago. I’m not sure, but they took the prisoner and Mr. Deavor as well.”

Dicker shook his head and looked to Mirage for assistance on this but she was just as confused as she was. Either Syndrom was right about the NSA having corruption being deeper than previously anticipated, or this was another getaway plan made in haste. He just wished that Winston wasn’t with him where he was.

“Someone call it in and put a blockade on all airspaces,” Mirage ordered as she turned for Syndrome’s lab again. Dicker, you better let the Incredible’s know.”

Dicker sighed and nodded as he headed for the phone in Syndrome’s den. When he got only the answering machine he hung up before he was prompted to leave a message by the voice of Helen Parr. 

This news might be better to hear in person.

\---

Violet awoke with a start the next morning. She had hoped it was all a dream, or in this case a nightmare but even as she entered a lucid state she could feel his hands on her hips. Still taste his lips. The warmth of his arms around her. Did she ever hear his heartbeat, or was he really an unfeeling machine?

Pulling herself from bed, Violet moved to get out of the room. It would be likely that the paparazzi would be all over the return of Syndrome and as much as it pained her to admit she still wanted to see his face. 

Violet made her way downstairs in her nightgown and set her trajectory for the television but she stopped at the bottom of the staircase to see her parents sharing coffee with Dicker. Violet looked down in shame and entered the room, seating herself at the table. 

“I need to say something.”

“Violet, before you do you should hear out what Rick needs to tell you,” her father stated and Violet shook her head.

“It was foolish of me to believe anything that Syndrome had to say. I know that I’m a liability to the NSA but I’m willing to go against him in court. I don’t care what form I go in there as, Invisigirl, Violet, hell- even as WatchDog, though that will be difficult considering that WatchDog is supposed to be mute but-”

“Syndrome’s missing,” Rick interrupted suddenly. 

Violet’s eyes widened and she struggled to ask the question but the NSA veteran was ready to fill the super in. 

“Syndrome was taken on the way to Westburg. We don’t know who could have done it. We don’t know if he is complicit in this recent development. We only know that he was taken by men who killed some fine agents, and we believe that Winston was taken as well.”

“We have to find them!” Violet blurted out and Rick nodded in agreement. 

“We are doing everything we can.”

“Fuck that! Everything you can?! Syndrome was living the high life for a decade and no one even knew! We don’t have ten years to wait for him to pop back up again, and that’s assuming if he is in on this!” Violet said quickly as she pushed away from the table by her mother’s arms were on her shoulders as she stood from the other side of the room.

“Violet, if you know anything about this you need to let Rick know and they can pursue this further. We can’t have you go rushing in on this, we don’t know if it’s money they are looking for or if Winston is a hostage-”

Violet shook her head as she sat down at the table again, remembering what Buddy had said to her in his den yesterday and even before that he had prophesied even earlier. 

That she was the death of him.

“I’ve killed him... Oh God, I’ve killed him too.”


	25. Cruel World

Buddy and Winston were forced to their knees as they arrived before Doctor Schmerzen. The bags were promptly removed and the pair of men closed their eyes, temporarily blinded by the reintroduction of light. 

When his eyes adjusted again, Buddy could see that they were in a dining room fit for a king, or in the case of the great and terrible doctor, fit for an authoritarian. Buddy waited for Dr. Schmerzen to look at them, but the man paid them no mind as he dug into his meal. A dish that smelt of eggs and potatoes. Buddy ignored the pangs of hunger in his stomach having traveled for the better part of 20 hours without anything to eat or drink, but he could not ignore the shrill and arrogant voice of Winston.

“Oh! So you’re the head honcho around here huh? I’ve got a bone to pick with you!”

“Winston, please shut up,” Buddy pleaded, tightening his lip as he caught the cold eye of his former associate. 

The tanned man smiled gently as he set his knife and fork down and turned his body to the pair of bound men, studying them carefully. 

“When I was informed that you were on my way with a plus one I had hoped that we would have been joined with that new friend of yours, WatchDog. I had the most fabulous dream last night of the things I would do to the pair of you, so imagine my surprise to find out in the middle of the night that my esteemed guild has lost yet another member, this time not through rejection but from the hero I presumed to be on their way here. It’s quite disappointing I must say.”

“Yeah, well, I am happy to disappoint! In fact, that’s my middle name!” Winston shouted boldly from the floor. Buddy knew that Winston lived a privileged life, but this level of courage was stupid. Or maybe it was stupidity that was actually fueling that courage.

“Is it now? Well, apologies for not putting in the order to your headstone. I hope you enjoy your unmarked grave,” Dr. Schmerzen stated as he made a gesture and one of his guards lifted the nose of their gun towards Winston’s chest but Buddy began to sound off his disapproval.

“Hey, woah now, I know you are smarter than you look, Doc,” Buddy said as he waved his hands over Winston. “Do you not recognize this guy? This is Winston Deavor. You know, Winston Deavor of DevTech?”

“Ah yes, American capitalism, I do so enjoy the work that you do but I’m sure some other entity can replace you,” Dr. Schmerzen said as he motioned to snap his fingers but Buddy was leaning in the path of the weapon. 

“This guy single-handedly brought supers back from extinction.”

“All the more reason to kill him.”  
Winston’s eyes widened as he looked at the gun but Buddy was shaking his head furiously. 

“You harm so much as a hair on this man’s head and you will experience hellfire that of which the world has never seen. I know you got in pretty easy, the NSA won’t pursue this because, well, as you pointed out they got some spring cleaning to do now, and you can forget about the rest of the government really acting on it because they have no idea who even took us-”

“I’m only hearing that I’ll get away with it, Mr. Pine.”

“But the supers won’t rest until he is found- Winston is essentially a chairman to every super committee that exists, stateside and abroad. It’s only a matter of time before someone slips up or some super with psychic vision sees that Winston is or was with you last. I know that pain is your game, but man, I would not want to be in the shoes of the guy responsible for the death of THE Winston Deavor.”

The guard that was previously aiming his weapon on Winston lowered it and looked to his boss for guidance. The doctor narrowed his gaze and observed the mouthy men with a newfound sense of clarity.

“Then what is your suggestion, Mr. Pine? Ask for a ransom?”

“A ransom would be the same as ringing the dinner bell. What you need to do is send this man home right now. As long as he makes it back perfectly sound it will be no harm no foul,” Buddy assured.

“Ahh, but Mr. Pine, that would allow for Mr. Deavor to inform everyone where you are, and I have absolutely no intention of letting you go.”

“Trust me, he couldn’t find his way out of a paper bag let alone figure out our location. He won’t tell, a-and even if he does, nobody is going to be looking for me.”

“Jimmy-” Winston whispered but Buddy shook his head.

“They won’t. The government might want me on trial, but not if they have to spend more money and risk more lives to get me to the stand. Supers won’t be coming to the rescue or conviction for me either thanks to my track record. If anything you might get a gift basket as thanks from some folks honestly. You may have some blowback for the agents your men killed but that blame can be placed to one of your lower syndicates or even a competitor if you play your cards right. I swear, you won’t have to worry about anyone showing up for me, but every second that Winston is here and not where he safely belongs is another second that you are risking your whole empire on. So again… I’m imploring you, just, just get this man back stateside.”

Buddy’s throat was dry as he waited for the call. Hoping to see some form of an answer in the doctor’s face but there was only cold contemplation. The seconds felt like hours to him but at last the criminal tyrant gave a sigh.

“Very well, I will see that Mr. Deavor is returned, safe and sound,” he said and with a wave of a hand, Winston was hauled back up to his feet with a back over his head.

“Wait, Jimmy, you can’t stay-!” 

“It’s Buddy, and just take care of Apple and… just take care of yourself, Win. I’ll be okay,” Buddy said as Winston was dragged away, his pleas muffled by the black material over his head. Buddy watched until his friend was no longer within his line of sight but even when there was nothing else worth paying attention to he found it hard to meet the doctor’s eyes. 

Managing to find the guts to look up at Doctor Schmerzen again, Buddy lifted his chin ready to meet his fate.

“Well, let’s get this over with then,” Buddy said calmly and the man at the table laughed with amusement. 

“Oh Mr. Pine, there is no need to rush this! I did say I had no intention of letting you go, and that includes relinquishing you to our mutual friend, Death. I look forward to breaking you,” the doctor said as he stood from his seat and bent down to grab Buddy’s face. “I’m going to make what I did to my wife and her lover look like child’s play compared to you, Mr. Pine, and I’m going to drag it out as long as possible. Months, maybe even years. Now let's get you out of those flimsy cuffs and into something much less comfortable."

\---

  
Violet was in a catatonic state as she sat on the couch, staring out at the Metroville skyline. She was vaguely aware of the bodies that moved around her. Her parents, brothers, as well as Rick and Mirage were circling around her periodically. If they were speaking to her she didn’t hear them. She only heard Buddy’s voice. Him begging her to run away with him, his warning that he would be as good as dead if they stayed. And then came the cruel revelation that he never cared for her at all. 

And she couldn’t blame him. 

She seemed to only bring chaos wherever she went and even in knowing that she was a pawn from the start, Violet still felt for him. It was basic psychology and he had played her like a fiddle. 

It would pass, her mother assured. Even Mirage told her that Syndrome wasn’t worth the time of day.

“I gave up five years to that man, helped him murder good people, people who only wanted to be helpful again. If this man could find a way to survive a jet turbine I’m sure he’ll be able to walk out of this. I’m honestly more worried for Winston. He could cause even the most devout hero to snap, no offense to him.”

Mirage was really the only one who Violet could connect to but the pain was still too fresh to touch. She just wanted to remain invisible, and sometimes her powers granted that without thinking. Her vanishing act worried everyone but her mother who could always find the faintest outline of her.

It was nearly three days after the disappearance of Syndrome that Winston turned up. Alive. She wasn’t allowed to leave the house, she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to leave, but news of Winston being okay confirmed the suspicions that Syndrome must still be in control. 

“I told you he’d be alright,” Mirage said gently as she stood in the doorway of her bedroom. “Breath in the day, take a shower… If you really want to, I could put in a good word with my boss about taking you on at the capitol. I’m not sure why your package got rejected so many times, you seem like a smart kid and have a lot to offer to the agency. And if you ask me personally, it would be an asset to have a super on the inside.”

Violet was tempted to laugh at the offer given all that she knew but she just shook her head. She still has to see what the situation would be if Violet Part was officially dead or if they could somehow salvage her civilian name. Mistaken identity? Or maybe they could make up a story that she got away. Regardless of the circumstances, she didn't really plan on going anywhere. 

Where was there to go? 

It wasn’t until a week and a day of his return that Winston finally came to visit. An event that marked a reason for Violet to come out of her room and groom herself for company. She noted that even when she was held hostage by Syndrome she didn't let herself get this bad. She tried not to think about that though. Or anything else to do with the villain. 

Violet was sitting by the poolside in a pair of shorts and a baggy sweater on top. She let her legs in the water as she kept her focus on the clouds until her attention was drawn to the sliding door where Winston emerged, and Apple as well who bolted over to her place and proceeded to lick her face without mercy.

It was the first honest smile that broke on Violet's face in the days that passed.

"How you holding up, kid?" Winston asked as he walked over with a tiny package in hand. 

"Okay with all things considered I guess," Violet said as she dodged more laps from the dog. "I feel like I should be asking you that though. Taken hostage and all."

"Well I guess you and I finally have something in common!" Winston said, his grin widening as pulled over a lounge chair and handed the box to her. 

"What's this?" 

"A gift but you don't have to open it yet."

Violet nodded and set the small box aside before meeting Winston's eyes whose gaze was set on the skyline. She didn't think she had ever seen the man as sad as he looked right now.

"Hey, Win? I'm- really sorry about Bu… Syndrome… or I suppose you knew him best as James. He really had the both of us fooled, huh?"

Winston nodded in agreement as he squinted his eyes at the horizon. 

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess he did." 

Violet turned her head away and bit her lip, wondering if Winston would develop trust issues. First his sister then his business partner? It would be difficult for her to trust anything ever again. Her parents, the NSA, accepting drinks from people… or just people in general. But if there was anyone she could trust it had to be Win. 

"Rick said that Syndrome sent you home. Is that true?"

"Yeah, he, uh, he arranged the flight to get me back home," Winston said as he began to fidget but Violet didn't notice. It was some small amount of relief to know that the man still had some decency. 

"I guess he really can talk his way out of anything… or into anything," Violet murmured as she rubbed at her arm. "I'm sure Rick told you not to talk about what happened, preserving evidence and all, but when we first got word that you guys disappeared I feared the worst for you both. While I was kept hostage, I came close to escaping but this guy came, he had a bunch of men with him and they all had guns. He had me believing that he was in trouble," Violet muttered, wondering if the electrocution was staged or rehearsed as well. It looked like it hurt. He acted like he was lethargic for a few days too but Violet didn't know what was real anymore anyway. "I wish I remembered the name of that asshole… started with another 'S' I know that much. They put on a really convincing show, and Syndrome said he didn't have any friends."

"Schmerzen," Winston whispered absently before his eyes found hers. He swallowed, knowing that one name was already him saying too much. 

Buddy told him to keep his mouth shut. Dicker told him to keep his mouth shut. Her parents warned him not to say anything that would upset her, and yet here he was. Practically ready to tell her everything.

"What did you say?"

"His name is Schmerzen," Winston stated as he leaned forward with his hands clasped together. "He's a downright thug, and between you and me, I really don't think he and Buddy are friends."

Violet felt her heart seize at the information but she turned her head away as she held herself tight. 

"Well, I'm glad that you were released, he's probably just going to get a villain's form of a smack on the wrist. Maybe he'll actually lose a hand- then he can make himself some creepy claw so he can't fool anyone else ever again," Violet muttered trying not to think about him in pain. He didn't care about her, so why should she even consider him? 

But she did. Damn him. She hoped that Schmerzen would teach him a lesson and at the very same time, if not moreso, she wanted to ask him how he could be so cruel to make her believe that he actually cared about her. 

"Violet, I don't think you mean that."

"Why wouldn't I? You heard what he said! He was using me this whole time! He never gave a damn about me or you, or anyone other than himself and his stupid robots and his stupid plans!"

Winston saw the pain in the young woman's eyes. His sister was so much better at keeping face than him. He promised everyone he'd keep quiet, not push the envelope, but who the hell were they to stand in the way of love? And he was willing to bet that Buddy was going to need a whole lot of it. 

"Violet, Jim- I mean Buddy lied to you," he started and Violet scoffed. 

"Yeah, I know. That's what I've been saying!"

"No Vi, he lied on his way out the door. He didn't mean what he said to you before he left, he said that to protect you!" 

"If you're trying to make me feel better-"

"I'm not! I mean I am but this has got to stop! Both of you two are head over heels for each other and there is no way I'm the only one who can see it, right?! Violet, I don't know how to tell you this but you've got that guy wrapped around your finger and… and he needs you. He needs us," Winston whispered as his face went from elation to horror where Violet's expression remained to be one of pain. 

"W-Winston, where is Buddy?" 

"I don't know Vi, but I’m pretty sure he needs us and we're gonna find him," Winston whispered as he took hold of the super's hand. "We're going to get Buddy back."


	26. Stendhal

Violet and Winston quietly devised a plan by the poolside. Breaking her out wouldn’t be a problem, what the real hill to climb was finding the lair of this doctor. The Colton’s would be inaccessible since they were already in custody and the last thing they wanted to do was alert the crime lord that they were coming for him.

“The only lead that I have to go on is John Pierce LeBrock,” Violet grumbled as she tossed a stick for Apple to fetch. 

“The fashion designer?”

Violet nodded quickly as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“Yeah. He seems to be the go to guy for designs. Buddy also said that he was one of the guys that were trying to buy me off of his hands.”

“And you thought he didn’t care about you,” Winston jested and shook his head. “This is one of those rare moments that I wish Ev wasn’t in a maximum prison. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has a piece of his work hanging in her closet,” Winston muttered as he sat in the grass beside Violet who suddenly slapped her own forehead.

“Edna!”

“What?”

“Edna Mode. If anybody could get us a location on LeBrock it’s Edna! I thought it was so stupid but a couple of years back Edna sued LeBrock because he had released a civilian line of outfits based on some designs Edna had made for her exclusive supers. Remember the ‘Steal Their Look’ campaign?” Violet asked but Winston just shook his head.

“Again, I think that’s a conversation my sister could chime in on.”

“It doesn’t matter- what does is that Edna is still in negotiations with the bastard for compensation! We’ll have his address, or at least his legal office-”

“And then we can nab him!” Winston shouted a little louder than Violet would have liked. Seeing the anxious look on the woman’s face the man lowered his head and smiled. “Sorry, but that’s spectacular.”

Violet nodded and smiled looking at the house again. There was no way her parents or Rick would let her run with this plan. She hated hiding things from them, but this was a 'do or somebody she cares for dies' scenario. 

“How soon can we leave?” she asked and Winston got to his feet. 

“A buddy of mine would always say that there is no time like the present,” Winston said as he helped Violet to her feet. “I’ll say my goodbyes, while you say you are going to hit the hay and I’ll meet your invisible WatchDog self in the limo?”

Violet smirked and nodded.

“That’s a pretty good plan, Win.”

“Well, I don’t mean to brag Vi, but I was an expert in getting supers in and out of meet and greets back in the day,” he said as he tugged at his business jacket. The man offered a wink before he turned to start up the plan but stopped short. “Oh, before I forget… I’d open that gift of yours now and put it in a safe place.”

Violet had completely forgotten about the small box. Quickly opening it she paused as she stared at a plastic card. 

“It’s a bank card.”

“I have a bank account Winston,” Violet said, raising an eyebrow. “I just want to know why you’re giving me this.”

“Technically, I would say that Buddy gave that to you. Or maybe he really gave it to me? I can’t say for certain but he poured several million bucks into you while you were, uh, missing. We can’t exactly announce a memorial foundation in your name if you’re able to be Violet Parr again so… I think he’d want that money to be yours.”

“How did the NSA not flag the account?”

“Because my name is on it too,” Winston said as he tilted his head. “And I may have compromised an agent or two-”

“WINSTON!”

“No backsies!” Winston called as he made his way back inside of the Parr household.

\---

Winston’s maneuver worked like a charm. How long it would work for could vary between buying them a few hours or the entire night but it was enough to get her out of the house without causing a scene and for that Violet was thankful.

Pulling up to Edna’s security gate it took Winston's driver a few minutes to get Edna to let them through. Being officially retired from making super suits and teaching the next generation of super designers, Edna argued that she didn’t have time to deal with a suit, but her curiosity was hitched with the mentioning that Win had an inside scoop on LeBrock.

Rolling up to the door, Winston quickly got out of the car and opened the passenger side door as Edna exited her mansion.

“What is it Mr. Deavor?! What information could you have on that puny Frenchman that I don’t?!”

“It’s not what I have, but what the WatchDog can offer,” Winston said with a grin making the tiny fashionista suspicious. 

“Bah, I don’t have time for this! I have lessons to put together, mentees to mentor! Be gone with you, you White Collar simpleton! Work with someone who orders their fashion from a military surplus store?! I never!” 

Turning to go back inside, Edna had to stop herself from running into the vigilante she just spoke ill of, but she did not retract the statements made but instead doubled down on them. 

“ _ YOU!  _ How dare you show your mask around here! You think you can intimidate me into creating a suit for you, is that the game?! I would sooner design sweaters for fish before I worked with you! I’ll have you know that I consider the Parr family as my own family and the way that you handled the daughter’s death was despicable! I haven’t seen poor judgment like that since Galbaki published his memoir, Crime of Fashion!” Edna shouted while pointing a menacing finger at the black-clad antihero. 

Edna took a step back as WatchDog motioned to remove their helmet. The now elderly woman waited for the reveal with patience and held her breath as she looked upon the face of Violet Parr.

“Thanks, Auntie Edna,” Violet teased before the woman wrapped her arms around her legs. 

“Darling! I knew that Sardonic wasn’t the end of you! Oof! What are we doing out here, you said that you have information yes? Come, come, come, let us get down to business, and maybe discuss a new look for this vigilante?”

Once inside, Violet was surprised to find how little Edna spoke. All previous encounters with the woman were near impossible when it came to getting a word in, but the fashion designer didn’t interrupt once in the tale of how she became WatchDog, though she was not safe from critical looks from the woman either.

“You mean to tell me that you want to save the man who kidnapped you?”

“I do.”

“You realize that you can do so much better than a villain, yes? And this… Syndrome, or Buddy as you so fondly call him, he doesn’t even have powers! Why settle for a mere mortal when you could have a God?”

“He’s actively recovering from a God complex if that counts,” Violet replied. "And he might not have powers but he can elevate mine, and potentially others too. He can help the way that you do, E,” she continued before she demonstrated the watch Buddy had made for her but Edna continued to look unimpressed. 

“I suppose he’s the one that made you dress in this ridiculous costume too?” Edna said as she folded her arms and sighed. “Fine, darling, I’ll get you the information that you need, I’ll even do you one better, I know where he is going to be tomorrow night!”

“You do?!”

“He has a fashion show at the Boti studio in Japan. I received an invitation from his lawyers last week. Of course, I’d sooner endorse capes before attending such a distasteful display but I could give the tickets to go in my stead.”

“I think I would rather crash the party,” Violet said, making Edna smile. 

“That’s my girl. I would very much like to chat with you more but I believe you do have a flight to catch. Before you go however I only ask one thing from you, if you are as ruthless of a bounty hunter as the gossipers say.”

“Depends what the request is E,” Violet said as she got off from her seat. As far as she was concerned, WatchDog wasn’t a bounty hunter, but rumors usually had a darker spin than the truth. 

Edna’s face contorted into a wicked grin, her fingers linking over each other and rested upon her crossed knee.

“Make it so he can never make another design again.”

\---

Jetting off to Japan, Violet and Winston opted to try to get what sleep that they could, but Winston was just excited to be a ride-along and Violet was anxious over the time that had been lost to this goose chase. 

They had all the time in the world, but was there still time for Buddy?

“We’ll get to him in time,” Winston said from across the aisle making Violet pry her eyes from the window and to his face. She nodded and offered a sad smile before looking back outside her window. 

“It’s my fault that he’s even in this mess. If I had just kept my mouth shut and my head down who knows what could have been,” Violet muttered counting the number of moments that could have drastically changed Buddy's life. If she held back those three little words the night that he wanted to run away, she could have said them in some snowy cabin. That would have been more romantic, right? “This whole WatchDog thing was my idea, I just wanted to make a real difference you know? He said a few times that I was going to be the death of him. I just really hope that I don’t prove him right.”

Winston frowned at Violet’s plight and shook his head. 

“Obviously out of the two of us you know him better, but I don’t think he regrets anything. I mean, I hope that he can one day realize how awful he was for taking out the supers the way he did, but with you… I’ve been in conversation with this guy on and off for a few years and I don’t think I’ve ever interacted with someone as rigid as him. The delays on the merger were more so on his side than mine I’d say," Winston said as he recalled the letters and emails, the commissioned lawyers, even a weird gift basket instead of an actual meeting. "It was like the guy who was so invested in the company didn’t want anything to do with the actual company- made the shareholders a little nervous and honestly now I kinda wish I had listened to them but… In the last month I’ve seen that man go from recluse to a real standup guy.”

“Other than the murder part,” Violet said leaning in and Winston nodded again.

“Other than the muder, fraud and kidnapping, he’s really opened up I think.”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better, and I appreciate it, but do me a favor. If you hope to keep yourself out of harm's way, that kind of talk needs to be kept away from my dad.”

Winston nodded as he contained the need to chuckle. Leaning his seat back he glanced back at Violet and smiled playfully. “Think we’ll meet any ninjas or Yakuza while we are there?”

Recalling that Buddy said that a Yakuza boss was also seeking out to buy her off of him, Violet shook her head and leaned her seat back in hopes of getting some rest as well.

“I really hope not, Win,” Violet said as she closed her eyes. “I really hope not.”

\---

Winston entered the studio venue that was placed on the 27th floor of a tower in the city's financial district. While he was dressed for business area he stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the chic models, influencers and fashionistas. He had a clear earset in his ear to communicate with Violet. It was a leftover from when he worked with Elastigirl and he was just glad the damn thing still worked.

“Again, Ev would have been the better play here,” Winston muttered as he walked through the crowd.

“Well it’s too bad she still has another life sentence for conspiring to terrorize,” Violet said within her helmet, standing on the rooftop of the building across the street. 

“Touche,” Winston replied before looking back out to the crowd, searching for the face that Violet had instructed him to seek out. A thin man who could certainly access senior benefits with white hair and horn-rimmed glasses was the mark he had. “So I only gotta tail him, right?”

“That’s all I want you to do, Win,” Violet confirmed as she scoped out potential routes for her to corner the Frenchman in. As long as Winston didn’t attract any unnecessary attention or out himself they should be in the clear.

Winston nodded and progressed through the crowd until he saw the man that he was looking for. “Hey, what’s the signal again?”

“There isn’t one. Just don’t let him out of your sight.”

“Right, on it!” Winston said as he took a seat by the runway and waited for this show to hit the road. While seated another man sat by him, another American or at least someone who came from a western country. Being the friendly guy he was, Winston extended out his hand. “Hey there, Winston Deavor. Who are you here for?”

The dirty blonde-haired man smiled, already knowing who he was dealing with. He had recognized the entrepreneur the moment he had stepped into the floor. He shook the hand that was offered.

“Julian Watts. I’m here for my wife, she’s in the show… Aren’t you a little far from home, Mr. Deavor?”

Winston had the instincts of a golden retriever when it came to sensing danger and he shook his head. 

“Oh, a little far but I needed to get out of town,” Winston stated not surprised that he was recognized. He was after all a pretty famous guy. Violet logged back into his ear seeing that he was engaged in a conversation.

“Hey, Win, don’t answer me directly, but who are you talking to?” She asked as she noticed a slew of luxury cars rolling up to the building. Violet had no experience when it came to Yakuza, but she knew a crime syndicate when she saw one and the cars just screamed the arrival of bad news.

“So, uh Julian Watts, who is your wife?” Winston asked as he heard Violet deliver a string of curses. 

“Win, you gotta get out of there! Watts is no good and I think you are about to get your wish!” Violet shouted and Winston stood from his seat. 

“I’ve just gotta go check on something real quick,” the executive lied and Julian smirked knowingly. 

“You know it’s a bit of a coincidence seeing you here, didn’t something happen to your business partner? That Kronos guy? Isn’t he missing?”

This was unfortunately the moment that Winston realized that things weren’t looking too good. “That hasn’t been reported yet.”

The doors into the studio burst open and the once docile posh crowd was overrun with sharp-dressed thugs. The entire floor went into a panic frenzy, the men who entered clearly looking for Winston as Winston sought to find the man they had come here for. 

“Hey kid, I could use your help here!”

Violet cursed seeing the scene unfold. She should have known that sending Winston in would have been a tell-all for the criminals inside but it wasn’t like she could go in as herself or as WatchDog. 

Well, now she did have to go in. 

Violet ran off of the roof, using her force fields as stepping stones down from the taller building she had been spying from and to one of the large glass windows of the floor that Winston was stuck on. She blew out with another force field and Jumped into the open room, immediately went into the fray as WatchDog.

There were too many civilians once again, but Violet was thankful that men weren’t bringing out firearms. Engaging in physical combat, Violet didn’t go easy on the men with the force punches she used. She took the men down one by one as they came at her, but she wasn’t immune to quantity.

Somewhat trapped underneath a pile of men while shielded by her forcefield Violet had little choice other than to push back all the men with her force fields. She swept a man off of his feet and gave him a knockout blow before she searched the scene to find the man that she felt responsible for and the man they had made their mission to find.

She found them both engaged with each other, Winston was doing his best to hold the man down for her. Fighting off a few other men, Violet charged straight for the pair and enveloped them into a forcefield of hers before breaking another window and jumped out. Rather than relying on her powers to carry her she triggered the rocket boots and jetted away from the cacophony of thugs and screaming models with Winston and LeBrock in tow. 

"Do you have any idea what you're doing? Do you know who I am?!" LeBrock shouted within the bubble, still tangled with Winston.

"Hey, frenchie! We know exactly what we are doing! It's you who should be asking if you're making the right call!" Winston snapped as WatchDog landed on another rooftop, adjacent to a police station.

Setting the pair down, Violet approached the fashion designer and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and hauled him up to his feet. 

"Where is he?!" Violet shouted through the helmet. The villain laughed at the question.

"I can't hear you in there, Mademoiselle, you are going to need to speak up!"

Not buying that response Violet held the grip on the man through her force field and pushed him out to dangle over the side of the building. Now fearing for his life the Frenchman began to scream, knowing that WatchDog wasn't quite the same as most supers these days. 

"Bring me back in! Bring me back in!"

"After you tell me where I can find Doctor Schmerzen!" 

The man hanging in the air grasped at the invisible force fields and looked down at the ground. 

"Argentina!"

Violet dropped the man, and he fell a total of four feet before Violet scooped him back up again and rose him back up, dangling him a little higher than previously. 

"WHERE?!"

"It's called Casa de Sal! Casa de Sal! It's located in the northern region of the country. There is a salt pan that stretches around the facility!" 

Satisfied with that answer Violet brought the man back in, dropping him like a bag of rocks in front of her. Crouching down, Violet brought out the cuffs from her utility belt. The man beneath her spat at her mask, grinning like he was the one in control again.

"You're going to regret this, super. My friends know that you're coming and they will get me out of jail. And once I'm out, I'll enjoy seeing you and whatever is left of your partner," the man taunted. "I already know of the things that Schmerzen is doing to him, what he still has in store for him. Monsieur Pine won't survive this time."

Detesting the boldness of the man and recalling Edna Mode's request, Violet summoned force fields around both of his hands. Closing her fists tightly, the hands inside of the power orbs were crushed and mangled and the owner of said hands screamed in agony. The scene was a little much for Winston who was turning away from the show of force now.

"You bitch!" LeBrock cried out as Violet hauled him up to his feet again. 

"You better hope that I find him alive and in one piece because if he isn't viable I'm coming back for you. I'll break every single bone in your body," Violet hissed before looking back to Winston who had his back to her. "I'm taking him in, do you think you can get back to the jet without attracting attention?" 

Winston just nodded before walking off and Violet repressed the urge to sigh. She knew this wasn't acceptable but the line between a good guy and a bad guy was blurred here. Violet lowered herself and whimpering LeBrock down to the street and marched towards the police station.

She was across the street from the station when a few luxury cars pulled up, blocking her path forward. A dozen men stepped out and one of the men was familiar to Violet. She recognized him as Boss Shinota from a still Buddy had showed her once before. He began to speak in his native tongue and a meek man with glasses beside him translated.

"Super, you are strong but acting recklessly. Stop this fruitless mission. Release my business partner and come with us."

Through the lenses of her mask Violet just stared and slowly shook her head, triggering another talking point. 

"Mr. Shinota would like to offer you a place in his organization. As a member of the family you could serve as the ane, the head consort for Mr. Shinota and-" 

With the hand that wasn't on LeBrock's shoulder, Violet made a quick slicing motion with her fingers pointing towards the large man.

Blood splattered across the face of the translator. Removing the stained glasses, the translator simply bowed and returned to the vehicle as the rest of the men stared at the sight of their beheaded boss in shock as Violet pressed on to hand off the criminal John Pierce LeBrock to the Japanese authorities. She didn't have all the evidence she needed to keep him detained indefinitely, but she knew how to find him again if needed.

…

Back on the jet, Violet removed the helmet and saw Winston holding the plane's phone out to her. 

"We should call your parents and… is that blood?!"

Violet nodded as she stepped forward and grabbed the phone only to hang it up.

"They're just going to want me to come back, and that's not going to happen. Not before we get Buddy back." Violet stated. "And don't worry, LeBrock is still alive, but I did kill a Yakuza boss."

"Okay. Yeah. That's great Vi," Winston said unconvincingly. "But maybe we should slow down and call in some backup? I know that the NSA isn't an option and maybe you don't want your parents in on this but we could get some other supers."

"We can't, Win! We have to get there now," Violet said as she went to the front of the aircraft to tell the crew to prepare for takeoff. "You heard LeBrock, Buddy is in deep!"

"I think you're in deep, Vi!" Winston shouted back, making Violet pause. "I don't think this is you! Invisi-girl wouldn't do these things! Accidents happen in your line of work, I won't deny that sometimes the bad guys die but the way you handled LeBrock? That was just cruel!"

"What do you think they are doing to Buddy right now, Win?" Violet asked, turning back to him. She wasn't upset with him. He had the right to disagree with her methods but time and the element of surprise were no longer on their side. "When I tried to escape, Schmerzen showed up and tortured Buddy for a couple of hours to find me and he lied… Buddy lied about not knowing my whereabouts. How do you think someone like Schmerzen is going to respond to a liar? And it sounds like Buddy was in trouble before today. These guys aren't playing easy so we can't afford to be the bigger person either."

Winston shook his head. He couldn't argue with Violet but he couldn't agree with it either. 

"What if Buddy isn't the only life on the line? What if we lose you too?"

"I'll be fine, Winston."

"I'm not talking about life and limb here, kid." Winston started as he moved down the aisle. "I'm talking about the real Violet Parr. I mentioned before that you had an impact on Buddy, but maybe you've had some bad influence too. The Violet I know wouldn't go breaking people's hands or, Jesus, killing people in the streets… would she?"

Violet absorbed the words that Winston gave. She didn't feel sorry for LeBrock, nor for the Yakuza boss she had terminated. And the Triplets Mayhem? She felt awful for the innocent bystanders on the pier that had the brunt of her shields reflection but she did not feel an ounce of pity when she had popped them like balloons. She was shocked, maybe a little mortified to find that she could do that, but she wasn’t sorry. They all had it coming- though one could argue that Buddy had his day of reckoning coming for a long while as well. 

"They've gotten away with the shit they've done for too long. A slap on the wrist here, a fine there-"

"But what happened to the woman who spoke of redeeming convicts and felons? Didn't you do a thesis or presentation on rehabilitation through education? What about that?"

Violet heard Buddy's voice again in her head, a statement he had made the night before she showed off her secret move. _ “You can’t save everyone, super. Just remember that.”  _ She didn't say it then, but she knew even at that moment that she didn't want to save everyone. She just wanted the chance to rescue him from himself but now she had to save him from something potentially worse.

"Maybe there is a line where people can’t be redeemed anymore,” Violet started, knowing that she was abandoning the person she was a few months ago. “Right now, I’m only concerned about one thing, and that’s Buddy’s wellbeing. We can talk about right and wrong when this is over, but Win, you're not going in with me. You can call my parents when we're halfway there. Call everyone out, I don't care, but I'm not stopping until Buddy is safe, or until I have Schmerzen's head."

Winston sighed as he sat down in defeat. Violet sounded as bad as some of the supers before the SRA. He just hoped that it was only for this particular case and not the new standard for the super and if this was the new Violet Parr, the world better hope that Buddy Pine was still alive. 


	27. Chronic Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OPTIONAL CHAPTER:
> 
> This one is for all my whump fans out there. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but this chapter only circles around the torment and torture of Buddy ‘Syndrome’ Pine. I’ve gone ahead and uploaded the next and *final* chapter for Identity Complex. 
> 
> Themes for this chapter include:
> 
> Psychological Torture
> 
> Physical Torture (electrocution, beatings, whipping)
> 
> Nourishment Control
> 
> Sleep Deprivation
> 
> Strong if not direct implication of sexual abuse (past and present)
> 
> I tried to make it so that nothing of substance will be lost if you forgo this chapter. All you really need to know is that Buddy is having a no good, very bad time and any details that are of story value will be brought up in the next chapter. 

Again, bit of a Dead Dove: Do Not Eat Chapter so swim at your own risk.

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When one thinks of a torture chamber, there may be the conception that it is a dark place. Void of light and sound. Maybe this is a place of stone, where there’s a leak in the foundation that keeps the place damp which leaves victims prone to infection or sickness. 

This does sound like a terrible place, but Buddy Pine would have given anything to feel cold stone, wished that he could be left in the dark, and above all else he would have loved some fucking peace and quiet. 

The prison that he was kept in was the polar opposite of that drab and moody place mentioned. His torture chamber was bright. Blinding white tiles that refracted the fluorescent lights in the room. There wasn't much to the holding cell other than the fact that it was all white. Even the clothes that he had come in with were exchanged for eggshell white scrubs. 

The one white thing in the room he was thankful for was the toilet. 

The tile floor should have been cool to the touch, but beneath them was a thermal heating system. Buddy was the first to admit that he loathed any place that got colder than 70 degrees, but the steady 89 was wearing him down and drying him out, and he suspected that this chamber could get much hotter and likely would. 

Both these elements made it difficult to sleep, but not impossible. It was the factor of sound that ensured that he wouldn't get any shut-eye. Speakers in the room blared an upbeat melody currently. He always preferred the white noise of his mechanical creations over music. Music made him think of his mother, and thinking of his mother led him to thoughts that made him feel things he no longer cared to feel. However, the sound of a mariachi band serenading him at all hours made him believe he was going to go from a clinical sociopath to a full-on lunatic if he survived this place, but that was a very big if. A statistically impossible if.

He had been provided two meals so far, both dishes were plain white rice that he had to eat with his hands and a white plastic cup filled with water to wash the meager helpings down with. He wished that he could gauge the time based upon those plates, but truthfully he couldn't say. He could have been here for several hours or even a couple of days. Time was just a man-made concept, but it was one that he was very fond of. He liked deadlines and watching the hours tick by. He adored making schedules and countdowns. Time gave him a sense of self oddly enough, but now all there was here and now. And he would be here until he was no longer here or anywhere at all for that matter. 

All of these things combined made him anxious, to say the least, but the most concerning thing of all was the fact that Schmerzen hadn't even touched him yet. And that terrified him. 

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.

Buddy's bloodshot eyes stared at the tile ceiling above him, trying to find a single imperfection that he could focus on. A mere flaw that he could cling to but there was none to be seen. The only thing that lacked perfection in the room was him and so that's what he tried to grab hold of. He counted his freckles, his scars, and picked out what ones were made from the crash and what ones were from his time working in the lab. Did Violet give him a scar from one of the coffee mugs? No. He had dodged them all. He almost wished she had left a mark or two on him to count.

He had been fed seven times now, though one of the dishes hardly qualified as a meal as it was just a bowl of spoiled milk that he refused to ingest. All the plates slipped through a slot in the door so he couldn’t make contact with the hand that feeds. He was displeased to know that the food wasn't on a regular schedule. His torturers were robbing him of any sense of normalcy and he hated them for it.

He tried doing math problems in his head to keep himself grounded. General relativity, special relativity, the Pythagorean theorem, quantum physics, the math problems he had to figure out how to enhance Violet’s powers. Light manipulation through frequency compensation had been one of the more challenging problems he had ever overcome but solving it was far more rewarding than most of his projects. But he couldn’t even do basic division in his head now with the this fucking music playing all the goddamn time!

Death by not sleeping was possible, but that was only because accidents were unavoidable with lack of proper rest. 

What he would give to have such a risk.

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.

.

He was only nine meals into his stay now but the pangs of hunger had caught up to him. The Doctor was a master when it came to breaking people but he was a survivor on a professional level. Long before the jet engine came, he had endured. Resilience was a skill he had built up for himself and it would take more than a white room and bright lights to break him down.

He just wished that the music would stop playing. 

And then, suddenly, it did. 

The silence was overwhelming and the man was both relieved for the quiet and aware that it was a terrible omen. The door opened and in walked Dr. Schmerzen followed by two of his men. The lackeys wore white hazmat suits, one carried a white toolbox as the other pushed in a pristine white cart with a device that was clearly meant to pass electrical currents into him. Buddy remembered there was a time that he admired the cleanness of white. Schmerzen was donning all white as well, a medical lab coat but there was a single drop of color on the lapel. It was hard to ignore the blood drop pin when it was the first thing he had seen that wasn’t a shade of white in an insurmountable amount of time. 

Buddy knew that this was where the real torment would begin, but a part of his brain was just glad to see something to interact with. 

“Nearly thought you forgot about me, Doc,” Buddy found himself joking.

“Oh, Pine. I could never forget about you,” the man replied with a smile as his men began setting up the room for whatever torture that was going to be inflicted. 

Buddy nodded as he watched as the men set up the electroconvulsive therapy machine. He had hoped that they would have continued to use the car battery but this device was easier to control. Meaning an accidental death or over frying his brain was less likely.

“So, what’s on the menu today, you sadistic son of a bitch?”

Schmerzen didn’t seem to appreciate how mouthy the engineer was. Normally by this point guests of his would be much more pleasant towards the company of others but then again Buddy Pine wasn’t as social as his showmanship would have others believe. 

“Ideally, we’ll be giving you discipline, but you are a tough one to crack. I must admit, it was one of the things I had admired about you, Pine, but I’m going to enjoy breaking you much more,” the crime lord stated before motioning his hand towards him and the two henchmen approached Buddy. 

For a brief moment, Buddy considered fighting them off but he knew it was better to stay his hand for now. Lull them into a sense of security so he could strike when they were least expecting it. Buddy lifted up his hands and began to walk himself over but he still ended up getting dragged over. His shirt was removed and he was strapped down to the patient chair that was perfectly centered in the room. 

“You know that I made an electrical holding cell that’s way more efficient than this,” Buddy stated as the men began to place electrodes upon his freshly exposed skin and a pair set upon each side of his temple. “I’d be more than happy to build you one. You could really shock the hell out of me then.”

“I’m aware of the design, although I’m not a fan. Really I’m not too thrilled with any of your products.”

“Everyone’s a critic,” Buddy muttered and the doctor smiled.

“You’re consumed by the future, Mr. Pine. Everything you do is a statement to the ways of old that their days are numbered. I like to think of myself as a traditionalist and you see using this simple medical device may not be as flashy as your toy but there is a certain intimacy in being hands-on,” Schmerzen said as he let his latex-gloved hand trail from the ginger’s collar bone over his chest and crossed over to touch his naval. The doctor was delighted to feel Buddy’s body tense as he came to the waistband of his pants. “Your tech, Mr. Pine, is made for the purpose of extracting what you want in a timely fashion. I am not looking for information. I already know what you've done. You are here solely for my entertainment."

Buddy’s eyes moved away from the man's face and to the ceiling, hoping to find something to distract him from the feeling of Schmerzen's hand trailing along his skin, something to keep him from hearing the baritone voice asking him  _ ‘Whose my little Buddy?’ _ but it was only endless white above him.

Then came the white, hot pain. 

Electricity coursed through him all his muscles constricted painfully. He couldn't scream, but sounds of pain broke through his clenched teeth and he was sure that he might break a tooth with how locked his jaw was but then the pain stopped and his body went limp but it was a temporary escape. Last time Schmerzen had him he was looking for something, had shocked him repeatedly and while he wished he knew how many shocks it took to knock him out, Buddy knew it didn't matter. 

There wouldn't be a raven-haired beauty waiting for him to wake with a coffee in hand. There would only be a new world of pain on the other side. He knew the only way he was getting out was with death leading him out, but he was too stubborn to die. 

And Schmerzen wouldn't let him. At least not anytime soon.

Again and again, the excruciating flashes came all the while the doctor controlling the currency spoke gently to him. Like a friend rather than an enemy. 

"I'm rather glad things turned out this way you know. As you may already know I'm quite fond of doing things the old-fashioned way. I know a good amount of our members will be disappointed to know they can no longer depend on you for their wares but I'm sure they will be pleased to know you are in good company."

The doctor’s hand flipped the switch again and quickly shut it off, as he leaned in close to his ears. 

"I really had hoped that the plus one notice was that WatchDog individual… I can't prove it, but I am willing to bet that the person under the mask is that little super you lost, isn't it."

Buddy kept his eyes straight and narrow. He wasn't going to give her secrets away even if they were already out in the open.

"I don't know what you are talking about," he said simply.

"Oh Pine, how the mighty have fallen! You have gone soft on us, haven't you?" Schmerzen chuckled before hitting the pulse briefly. When the currents stopped running through Buddy, Schmerzen held a hand to his temple to look him in the eye. It wasn't a difficult task as his guest still had defiance in him but eventually, he knew he would have to seek out those icy blue orbs on his own. "The way that you selflessly put yourself in front of that Deavor fellow… I wonder what sort of hoops you would have jumped through if it was that super. It really is a shame that I couldn't enjoy her company as well. It's been a while since my men could have some active recreation."

Buddy almost let himself slip there but he continued to hold his torturer's gaze.

"It's easier to escape from this than it is from a government facility. Having the NSA, FBI or even the military show up isn't on my agenda, nor is a legion of sups looking for their mascot," Buddy lied and the doctor shook his head. 

"Oh Pine, you don't actually believe that. Don't you think that my wife would have been able to escape from here? You haven't forgotten her, have you?"

Buddy swallowed. No. How could he forget Carla? She was still around when he was in recovery here at his estate. The news of her infidelity had erupted only days after he had left the country. Schmerzen, being the sadistic prick that he was, had filmed the woman's ordeal as well as the torture of the man who had slept with her. His second in command. Buddy forgot his name, but he remembered Carla. He had mistaken the snuff file for a business demonstration. He might be a murderer, but he hadn’t the stomach for that level of deliverance though he was realizing he’d have to adopt a defense mechanism for himself within the very near future. 

"She was easy on the eyes," Buddy jabbed knowing that such a statement could very well cost him his eyes. 

"Somehow, Pine, the lies that you string together are deeper cutting than that of my old friend Romero," Schmerzen stated and Buddy recalled that was the name of the man who Carla had slept with. She could have done better though he really shouldn't go over the mistakes of the dead when he was still in the viper pit. 

Buddy was shocked again. 

And again. 

And again.

He was shocked until he had passed out and that was the first amount of rest that his body got since he had arrived.

It was nice. He didn’t even have to suffer a dream.

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.

"How long have I been here?" Buddy asked as he watched Schmerzen's men pull out some spray-painted white chains. Some of the paint had flaked off, breaking the crisp illusion the villain overlord.. 

"How long do you think it has been, Mr. Pine?"

Buddy couldn't say. He had stopped counting meals as there was no rhyme or reason to the arrival of the white bowls or plastic cups of water. Once a tray arrived only a few moments after he had finished the tray beforehand. That’s when he knew he had snapped, or at the very least recognized that he wasn’t going to be able to keep his cool anymore. 

When he had tortured people it was always for the sake of progress. Get what he needed out of the interviewee and end the conversation. Permanently. But this? This wasn’t for advancing plans or achieving a purpose. At the very least he could say he was going to serve as a warning sign to future potential aggressors but anyone who knew of Schmerzen would already know he was not a man to fuck with. 

He was going to die. That was a given, after all, everyone died eventually. He just found himself hoping for the end of this earlier than he had expected.

“A week?” Buddy asked and his answer wasn’t confirmed nor denied but he knew that they had reached some significant marker because the chains represented a new form of torture. The electrocutions would never go away completely as Schmerzen informed that it was a favorite method of his. Buddy found himself wishing they had brought in the cart instead of the leather rod that was in the doctor’s hands currently.

It was no secret that Schmerzen was a man of inflicting pain, but the horror stories had become tall legends, and now Buddy was to become one of them. Buddy licked at his chapped lips and offered a smile.

“So. Is that a whip or are you just happy to see me?”

Why? Why did he insist on making things worse for himself? Not that his situation could actually improve, but he just always had to kick the hornet’s nest and not take a hint. Maybe he should have taken up Violet’s offer on psychoanalyzing him. 

No, no, no, no. He couldn’t think about her anymore. She didn’t belong in this room. She didn’t belong in his head and he didn’t belong in her life. He had to keep her pretty name out of his mouth. Not that Schmerzen was looking for her currently, but he could still be. If not for his work, then maybe for fun.

“This is called a sjambok,” Schmerzen stated as his men began to strip the clothes from Buddy’s body and attached a pair of white manacles around his wrists. “It’s supposedly very painful. I’ve only just received it from LeBrock. A gift for both of us you see, in honor of your betrayal.” 

“Oh, how is that prick these days?”

“He’s doing just fine but as you can imagine he is a little bitter over the loss of the super. He said that he’s willing to forgive you if you just give up her name.”

And there it was. Buddy couldn’t suppress the grin on his lips. There was a point to this. And if there was a point to the torture he could turn it into a game. All he had to do was play keep away. He was going to be here for a long time, regardless if he cooperated or not. 

Schmerzen could see the error he had made in offering an empty deal. Inhaling deeply he nodded to his men and Buddy was hooked up to the chain that would suspend him from the hook in the ceiling. Buddy couldn’t stop himself from laughing, but as he felt Schmerzen’s hand upon his lower back the hearty laugh died down to nervous chuckles, allowing Schmerzen to give a knowing smile, but their faces didn’t meet.

“I’ve done my homework on you, Pine. You were 11 years old when you entered St. Michael’s Home for Wayward Boys and three years later you were at MIT. Youngest soul to have ever entered the program, weren’t you?” 

The laughter had died in Buddy’s mouth as he felt the gloved hand traveled lower. 

“That’s an expensive school to go to, and we both know your father spent his money to keep the lights on at the bars, hadn’t even bothered to pay for a stamp to send you a goodbye note… I had always wondered how a little urchin like you could go from orphan to a millionaire in a few short years. But you are very good at keeping your mouth shut and it begs the question: what did it cost you to open your mouth?”

“Fuck you,” Buddy whispered and now Schmerzen couldn’t hold back his laughter. Removing his hand from Buddy’s skin, the doctor stepped around to take in the furious expression of the ginger.

“Oh, so that  _ IS _ a chord to be struck. Beautiful,” the doctor whispered as he caressed the side of face with the back of his hand. “Worry not Pine, I’m afraid I can’t get a rise out of myself for that type of torment. My chemistry just won’t allow it but I think I know of a few folks who can make that possible for us both. I typically like to save the best for last and I want to make sure I find a perfect candidate for that particular job… Though it’s a shame I can’t get Father Joseph to reprise the role, I would ask you see but I know that he’s not as able as he used to be and you have grown too old for him.”

Buddy’s eyes faltered. He focused on the floor as his memory was fixated on rosary beads and the hands of a man who had made an oath to a false God and a hollow childcare system. He thought that he had buried that story. He had erased it from his own history and corrupted every file that had tied him back to that place. Back to that sick bastard. Killing supers he could brag about all day, but he would have happily died if no one else ever knew of what had taken place in that facility. But nothing could ever be erased completely it seemed. 

“Of course, I could forgo it all if you would just give me a name,” Dr. Schmerzen said, making Buddy’s gaze rise again. “There is a nerve gas I’ve been waiting to test out and I think you would be-”

Schmerzen’s voice was cut off as Buddy hocked a loogie at him. The saliva landing just below his left eye and Buddy had regained his victorious grin. 

“I’m not a fucking guinea pig. I’m the main event, asshole. And I expect to be treated as such,” Buddy hissed, relishing the look of disgust on his former ally’s face. 

Wiping the spit from his face, the doctor went back behind Buddy and readied his arm to strike Buddy’s bare back with the leather whip. Normally he preferred to work with a clean canvas but he was more than happy now to cover what he had helped heal from years before.

“You’re going to regret that, Pine. I’m going to make you regret a great deal of things.”

With that, the medicine man cracked the whip down upon the back of the survivor, intent on keeping his promise. 

On the first strike, Buddy managed to suppress the scream that wanted to be let out. The second won Schmerzen a grunt. It was on the fourth lash that Buddy’s voice finally released the scream that Schmerzen had been seeking but he didn’t let up. Having been humiliated in front of two of his men, the doctor set out to paint the room red.

The lacerations broke his skin, not with clean precise cuts but brute force. The thunderous cracks akin to the way lightning would strike a tree, bits of his skin torn away as his nerves sent shock waves to his brain. The pain receptors on fire, doing their part in the game of survival, to tell the body that they had to flee this feeling, but there was nothing that could be done other than scream.

It was somewhere between the tenth and the eighteenth lash that Pine’s voice stopped echoing in the room. His nerves unable to keep up with the trauma caused the man to shut down. Not wanting to lose his plaything after only six days, the doctor threw down the whip after he had his fill of him and directed his men to clean up the mess and give him the best treatment available so he could start over again as quickly as possible. 

Without question the men obeyed. The crimson that painted the walls was removed and the room was returned to that perfect sparkling white. Buddy’s wounds were covered with a special healing salve that was made by the doctor that could repair even the most horrendous gashes within a few days. Stitches would have been the best route, but there was no point to them. The wounds would be opened again anyway. 

  
  


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Buddy awoke face down hours later with the upbeat Spanish folk music playing overhead. 

Or maybe it was days? 

Did it matter? Did anything matter? His mentor Professor Chalk, a former general and Ayn Rand fanatic who ran the robotics program at MIT would say absolutely, but it was difficult to find a silver lining in all of this. 

He was going to die. And that was more than okay by him. He just wished that he could have been remembered for more. 

DevTech might not even be able to produce the designs he had made for the company given that they were made by the villain formerly known as Syndrome.

The NSA might not have even bothered to resubmit his information knowing that he was not going to come back from this one.

The supers might remember his work, but there would always be another to replace him. A new plot. A new menace. There was always something new. That’s the way of the world. It would go on without him.

The Parr’s wouldn’t forget him however, that much he knew. He had left his mark on that family at least, but even now he wished that he might have left those midnight eyes on a better note. 

He also found himself wishing that he had left Mirage on a better note. Death’s doorway had a way of bringing out remorse it seemed.

Maybe Winston would still think of ‘Jimmy’ fondly. He wasn’t sure if the executive would be spared from a memory wipe having been in the service himself, but even if their last interaction had been pulled from his mind the man would surely remember the aloof recluse that shared the hall with him. 

The door broke open suddenly and he was being hauled up to his feet again with the music still playing. His still chained wrists looped into the chains that were pulled up higher so his feet wouldn’t be able to touch the floor. 

“YOU SAID THAT NO ONE WOULD COME FOR YOU!” screamed the wrathful doctor, his voice contrasting yet competing with the duet that played overhead. 

Buddy wheezed as a fist was driven into his gut. It was a new henchman, more of a brute than a lackey and Buddy realized that this visit was not planned as none of them wore mind-numbing white that he had grown used to. They were dressed in shades of black and gray, but the doctor had his lab coat that was still covered with his blood which had turned to the color of rust. 

“What are you talking about?”

Another blow was struck and Buddy’s body waved like a punching bag, fresh blood spurting from his lips. 

“I can now confirm that WatchDog is none other than the invisible super, Pine. LeBrock and Shinota have been taken out of the equation. It would seem that she is on a warpath to find you!” He commanded something else in his native tongue and one of his men fled the room

Buddy blinked at the information. The only explanation was that Winston had slipped. Ordinarily, he’d be pissed at the mistake but it was refreshing to see the look of fear in the doctor’s face. A smile cracked on Buddy’s dry lips.

“She must have done quite the number on the Yakuza huh… Can you give me a play-by-play? Because you know I’ve gotta say I’m her number one fan right now.”

The comment earned him a fist to his kidneys and a follow up to his jaw, a painful grunt released from him but he had a reason to laugh now. 

“If she manages to make it here I’ll be sure to give you both front row seats to each other’s torture. I’ll even let you two share this room so you can lick each other’s wounds!”

Buddy spat up a mouthful of blood and grinned happily, seeing the rage on the man’s blood-spattered face.

“I made the mistake of underestimating her more times than I care to count. If you want to survive this might I suggest you cut your losses and go underground. She’s a vindictive little bitch and she’s gonna tear you apart when she finds you.”

The lackey returned with a bucket and the sjambok in hand and Schmerzen had wasted no time in ripping open the flesh on Buddy’s chest. He screamed with more energy than he had to spare but he was riding a high that just couldn’t compare. 

“She’s going to end everything you’ve built and you won't even know what hit you!” Buddy seethed.

Enraged at the man’s renewed hope, the doctor dug his bare hand into the bucket of salt that was extracted from the salt flat that he owned. Without warning he ran his hand into the open wound, dragging the jagged mineral over the exposed nerves and like a fish on a line, Buddy flayed recklessly in attempts to get away from the burning sensation, but still the feral man ran his mouth.

“She’s going to make  _ you _ wish you let me die on your operation table,” he spat in his cracking voice as tears of pain broke from his eyes.

The doctor spun the naked man around and reopened the lashes on his back, After each crack, a fistful of salt would be applied to the fresh and bloody laceration, making the bound man scream in agony as he dangled helplessly. But he didn’t hold back his tongue. 

“She’s going to make you famous, Doc. Frontpage, six o’clock news, radio special fucking famous,” he rasped as the pain dragged him towards unconsciousness again. 

Dr. Schmerzen gave the man another lash before dropping the leather cropping device. He had to up security, hire on more guards, actually use the droids that he had bought from the techie out of charity. He also wanted to find if there was someone willing to dominate what scraps were left of the engineer. 

Spinning his prisoner back around again, Schmerzen grabbed Buddy’s lightly bearded and bruised face with his salted and bloodied hand, squeezing the jaw tightly.

“You believe she’s going to save you, but you are just bringing her to her demise,” the doctor hissed as he glared at the fading face of Buddy Pine who managed to smirk back. 

“That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to tell her... but like I said, she’s stubborn.”

Growling in frustration, Dr. Schmerzen abandoned the wounded man and denied him medical attention, leaving him to hang a few inches above the ground. If the super did manage to make it this far, maybe the sight of her broken prize would cause her to falter- but he wouldn’t let her get that far without taking her as a prisoner as well. Then he could really expose the bleeding man inside. 

  
  



	28. Hero

_ “I HATE HIM!” screamed a young Buddy Pine, still dressed in his Incrediboy outfit. He glared up at the icon of his hero. Had Mr. Incredible just let him help- maybe Bomb Voyage wouldn’t have gotten away, nor would the monorail system be shut down for repair. _

_ He glared up at the poster of his idol. He had done everything he could to gain the attention of Mr. Incredible. Risked his academic integrity to make money off of his peers by doing their assignments just so he could buy every piece of merch that supported him. Had gone to every meet and greet he could and those tickets didn't come cheap either, which he started to mow neighbor’s lawns to generate those funds. He studied the man, wrote to him, modeled his entire ethos to the hero and what does he get in return?  _

_ 'Fly home', Buddy. I work alone.' _

_ AND THAT'S NOT EVEN TRUE! Mr. Incredible worked with Frozone all the time! Had stepped in to help other supers from time to time too! He just didn't want to work with him because… _

_ Because he wasn't like him.  _

_ Because he didn't have powers. _

_ Without thinking, Buddy began to tear down everything from his bedroom wall, ignoring the hot, angry tears that escaped his eyes. He was tearing at the wallpaper by the time his mother entered the room.  _

_ She quickly went to her child and pulled him back and into a hug that he crumbled into. Sobbing uncontrollably, the boy buried his face into the crook of his mother’s arm.  _

_ “What were you thinking Buddy? You could have been hurt, or so much worse!” _

_ “I just wanted to help mom! I just wanted to do good- I wanted to be a hero, but I’m not super, I’m worthless, just like dad says-” _

_ The woman pulled her son back out to get a good look at him. He had tried so hard to impress this Mr. Incredible guy- she believed that this phase would pass with time, but seeing her baby in the back of a police car told her that the obsession had gone too far when really the first red flag should have been coming home to find him dunking his head into a bucket of bleach to emulate him.  _

_ “Sweetie, you aren’t worthless,” Margaret Pine whispered as she cupped her son’s face. “Don’t you ever think something so cruel about yourself- do you hear me? Don’t listen to your father and forget about what Mr. Invincible-” _

_ “It’s Incredible,” _

_ “He’s Mr. Incompetent if you ask me,” Mrs. Pine chided back as she wiped his face with the cuff of her sleeve. “What do I always say?” _

_ “Th-that I don’t need powers to be super,” _

_ “That’s right! You are super, Buddy. So very, very super. You’re super smart, super thoughtful… maybe a little too thoughtful, but we just need to channel your powers into a new direction!” _

_ The boy shook his head and wiped a string of snot from his nose with the back of his hand. “I don’t have powers,” he mumbled in misery but was surprised to find his mother laughing.  _

_ “Buddy Reginald Pine, I can’t think of anyone who can do what you do! What did you do to the toaster last week?” _

_ “I turned it into a laser…” _

_ “And your father’s lawnmower?” _

_ Buddy looked down recalling the anger of his father more than the invention itself. “Uh, I tried to convert it into a tractor, so it could cover more ground in less time." _

_ “You did make it into a tractor! The only reason it doesn't work is because your father took it apart. And now you've made these jet shoes? Sweetheart, you are more amazing than any super, do you hear me?” _

“Do you hear me, Mr. Pine?”

Buddy came back into the room that was still likely to become his tomb as a bucket of salt water was splashed over his front, reinvigorating the open wounds that the doctor had left on him from their last session. Buddy’s feet couldn’t touch the ground no matter how much gravity tried to pull him down, and his arms ached tremendously but he managed to lift his head to focus on the face of his enemy.

“I said that we’ve gotten confirmation that your super is in the country and is on her way here,” Dr. Schmerzen gloated. “We’ve prepared a very special trap for her, and if all goes according to plan I’ll get to put on the most wonderful show for you.”

Buddy let his head fall again. He wanted to gloat himself, brag that the super he managed to catch a few months ago was in actuality a force that was not to be trifled with. But he was tired. He was so damn fucking tired. And hungry. Thirsty as well. But more than anything he just wanted to return to sleep.

A gloved hand grabbed Buddy’s chin and lifted it up. Schmerzen’s dark eyes boring into his pale blue eyes.

“Oooh, have you finally lost the fight? That’s fascinating. I would have assumed that you’d be more enthusiastic to hear that you’re going to be reunited with your little friend. Business partner? Or is she your lover?”

Buddy didn’t respond. He couldn’t remember the last time it was that he had a drink and his throat was killing him more than Schmerzen currently was. 

Bored with the one-sided conversation, Dr. Schmerzen released Pine’s head and gave the order to provide him with nourishment. It would be a shame if he lost his prisoner to something as pitiful as dehydration or system shock. 

“She’ll be here within the next few hours I expect. You may be dying to see her again but we can’t have you dead on her arrival, can we?”

\---

Violet’s Spanish teacher from high school would have likely been disappointed to see that she had brain dumped most of her lessons, but Violet managed to make her way to the salt flats that LeBrock had mentioned. The sun was rather unforgiving to her in the suit, but Violet would be damned if she removed this helmet before she got Buddy to safety. She’d have to figure out a different mode of transportation as well, the dirtbike that she procured at the airstrip wasn’t exactly built for two but there was no telling what condition he was in to begin with. 

Maybe if the place had a phone or a radio tower she could get in contact with Winston again and find a place for him to land the plane again or at least alert the American government agencies where to send the choppers if he did make true to his warning of informing the NSA. Buddy surely would still have to make his dues with them, but given the debacle of him getting kidnapped on their watch, Violet knew she could cut down his sentence now. 

He just had to be alive. 

Maybe when this was all over, she’d have to see if Buddy could make a program that would be able to translate languages on the spot. Then they could have WatchDog go international. Yeah. Just keep thinking happy thoughts.

  
  


The dirt road that a rancher sent her down was lacking life. She must be getting closer, surely. When she asked the locals for Schmerzen, no one wanted to engage with her, but asking about the salt fields got her this far and a wooden sign directing her to Casa de Sal was all she needed to know she was going the right way. 

She was approaching a gorge and she knew that if there was an ambush waiting for her, that’s where it would be. It was no secret that her major weakness when it came to her shields was sudden brunt force, and a decent sized boulder being pushed from a ledge would be enough to stun her for a moment and a moment was life or death here. 

Looking at the watch that Budy had made for her, she had yet to try the settings that would allow her invisibility to pass onto objects beyond her clothing. It would be impossible to muffle the sound of the engine, but maybe she could throw off Schmerzen’s men. Violet began to play with the settings and found that the highest range level did cloak the bike completely. Taking a deep breath she rolled her shoulders to charge. 

“Show time,” she muttered before speeding down the path.

She was halfway through the pass when the trap was set. The men above were thrown off by being unable to see the bike, but clearly they had some tech that could see her heat signature and predictably the men had prepped a few boulders to come down on top of her, but Violet managed to stay ahead of them. The exit was nearing, but a final boulder was prematurely dropped to block off her path. 

Cursing, Violet abandoned the bike, letting it ride off without her as she leaped off from the vehicle and triggered the rocket boots. Soaring above the ridge, Violet ended her invisibility for her benefit to not use any more of her energy than she needed. A dozen men stood on each side of the canyon and they all raised their firearms at her, one of them even had a rocket launcher. It was overkill in Violet’s opinion but it was going to be effective against them. 

“Fuego!” a voice below roared and as the men began to pull the triggers Violet placed force fields around the two clusters of men, their rounds hitting the shields and returning back at them. 

Lifting the shields, Violet didn’t hang around to see if all the men were dead. They weren’t her primary target.

\---

“HIJO DE PUTA!” Dr. Schmerzen screamed in anger as he threw his radio down. The super had blown through every security measure that he had set up in preparation for her arrival. She tore through them like it was child’s play and she’d be breaking into the facility within minutes. He only had one option at this point and it was using the hostage.

If he was still alive.

Typically, the man of science detested using guns himself but desperate times called for desperate measures. Taking one of the handguns off of one of his bodyguards, the doctor ordered the remainder of his men to hold her off as long as possible so he could get to the Pine’s prison.

Schmerzen fled down the staircase and just as he reached the bottom of the flight of stairs he could hear the screams of his men and gunfire began. He had falsely presumed that the hero would have mercy on his men, but she was a regular Ángel de la muerte. Reflecting their deadly intent back upon themselves- she had even cut a squad of his men in half, and not evenly either. Some of his men were blessed to be decapitated where others were sliced open at the waist. Above. Below. At the ankles. All of them left to bleed out in the courtyard, begging for their lives, for help, for their mothers. 

An explosion bellowed overhead that shook the foundation of his villa, the lights flickered and were cut off, leaving only the faint orange glow of the emergency generator lights. Schmerzen opened the room that Pine was in knowing that this may very well be the final stand. His hostage was still hanging from the chains and his head hung low, making the doctor fear that he had no bargaining chip to spare his life with, but a weak chuckle came from the bruised, battered and bloodied man.

“I fucking told you so,” Pine murmured.

“If you don’t want a hole in your head you’re going to come with me right now!” The doctor shouted as he gave the chains some slack to allow Pine to stand on his feet but the man’s leg’s just buckled beneath him and he was kneeling in the pool of his own blood. “Stand up you son of a bitch!”

“I’d prefer not to actually.”

Before Schmerzan could retaliate to the comment the sound of steel-toed boots echoed on the stone floor of the hall outside. He was out of time. The doctor held up the gun to the doorway as he positioned himself behind the prisoner and with his free hand he grabbed a fistful of Pine’s hair and craned his head back painfully, pressing the muzzle of his pistol to the temple of his hostage.

The pair of men waited as the slow and steady steps continued towards their hiding place. It was a rare thing for the doctor to be terrified, and the fact that he was going to try to bargain for his own life in a room that he had taken the lives of so many in was nothing short of ironic. 

At last, the black-clad murderess appeared in the doorway. Schmerzen was surprised that she didn’t come into the room as the invisible specter that she was, but her being out in the open was certainly intimidating. Still, he had what she was looking for and one wrong move he would take Pine’s life. 

“Don’t move or I’ll kill him,” Schmerzen warned, trying to sound in control but his wavering voice gave him away. “I swear I’ll blow his fucking head off-”

...

It sounded like a firecracker, but if it were possible for a firecracker to be wet while popping. A spray of warm liquid rained down on Buddy and the rest of the room. For a minute he believed that he had heard the sound of a bullet tearing through his brain but it wasn’t until Schmerzen’s hand let go of his hair that Buddy realized he was still alive. 

He didn’t look back as he heard the thud of his captor's body hit the floor. He only continued to stare at the figure in the doorway trying to figure out if she was a savior or the world’s worst nightmare. 

Was it possible to be both?

“Violet?”

As if she was summoned by her name, she took a step forward and to Buddy’s surprise, she faltered. Like she missed a step. Violet stumbled to the floor and while he barely had the energy to hold himself Buddy scrambled towards her without hesitation. She didn’t seem injured, there were no obvious tears in the tactical outfit but it was hard to tell with the amount of blood that soaked her uniform. 

Violet’s hands were shaking as she removed her helmet and Buddy held his breath as he looked upon the face of the woman he believed he would never see again in awe and pain. She looked like she had been through hell even though she was the deliverer of it. Her nose was bleeding from both nostrils and her left eye was completely bloodshot. He had to question if she was just running on rage and adrenaline until this moment. The super’s powers didn’t come from her body but from her mind. Her brilliant, beautiful, brutal mind. It was evident she had put her faculties through some serious stress yet she managed to offer a smile to him. 

“You look about as good as I feel right now,” she teased as she set the helmet on the floor, accidentally slipping closer to the ground. 

Buddy extended out his cuffed hands to catch Violet. His arms felt like noodles from supporting his own weight for a day but if she could wipe out a whole cartel army for him he could hold her up for a few minutes. He pulled her close to his chest and readjusted himself so that he was no longer on his knees but sitting on the floor and lifted his bound hands up so he could have her in his arms. As she rested her head on top of his shoulder he considered the possibility that this was a dream but this was much messier than his usual fantasy. He’d like to think his mind would have been more gentle on the woman he was currently supporting. 

“Why did you come for me?”

“I already told you why.”

“Because you want to save me?” 

Her response was a single nod against him. There was another important piece to that answer but it didn't need to be said.

Buddy wished that the shackles on his wrists were removed or at least split at the chain links so he could properly hold her. Violet may have been able to solve that problem for him but he wasn't going to ask her to lift so much as a finger at this point. 

“I’m sorry we didn’t run away,” Violet said against his skin. 

Buddy stole a glance at the remains of Dr. Schmerzen and quickly turned his attention back to Violet. The bastard would have picked them up eventually Buddy realized. Even if they did run off to his secret cabin, Schmerzen would have come for them once they showed signs of complacency. Of all the ways that their struggle could end he was just glad that he still had his brain intact, unlike the doctor behind him whose head now littered the room.

“Eh, don’t worry about it. It was a dumb plan anyway,” Buddy replied focusing back on the woman in his hold, making a mental note to never upset her again. Not if he could help it at least. “You’re incredible, you know that right?”

“I’m okay I guess,” she said in modesty before releasing an exhausted and hollow cough from her lungs. “Though I think I’m going to be a Level A when the NSA finds this.”

Buddy scoffed at the hypothesis and tucked his chin on top of her head on top. “I think you’re in a class of your own, Parr.”

“I’m really glad you’re alive, Buddy.”

He had never heard those words before and he’d likely never hear anyone else agree to the statement, but it was comforting to hear, especially from her. 

“Yeah, me too,” he replied as he closed his eyes. “So I guess Winston let the cat out of the bag, huh?”

“Mhmm… So don’t ever lie to me again, asshole.”

Buddy smiled as he felt himself slipping into sleep again. At least he hoped it was sleep and not death's foyer. He struggled to stay awake to hold them both up but it was a losing battle for both of them. 

"I'm sorry," Buddy mumbled. 

"You should be," Violet muttered back and she began to slip. 

The words that he still owed her sat in his mouth and he found himself nearly blurting them out but she was already gone. Did it matter if he said them at all if she wasn’t able to hear him? 

Would it matter if he never got to say them?

He followed her down into the darkness, hoping that he would still be there when she woke again.

…

….

…..

……

  
  


“Paging Dr. Schwartz-”

Buddy’s eyes shot open at the voice over the intercom. He felt fear and confusion rise within him but calmed as he heard sounds of the outside world. He was either having a very lucid dream or he had actually escaped Dr. Schmerzen. 

Sitting up was painful, but pain was going to be pretty constant for a while anyway given the injuries he had received. Buddy felt a tug at his wrist and wasn’t surprised to see that he was cuffed to the gurney. Looking to his free wrist he noted the IV drip with gratitude before moving to read the information printed on the medical wristband.

_ Name: Pine, Buddy R. _

_ Blood Type: AB- _

_ Birthdate- _

“I don’t know if you are the luckiest man on earth or just cursed, but on all accounts, Buddy Pine, you should be dead,” muttered the voice of Rick Dicker. 

Buddy’s gaze shifted to meet the voice and shrank back seeing Rick accompanied by Mirage and Robert Parr. The trio looked less than pleased to see him alive but then he had to wonder why they were dealing with him when there were more important figures in the world.

“Violet, is she-?”

“I’m here,” Violet called out from the other side of the thin cubicle curtain. The sound of her voice made Buddy perk up and reluctantly Mirage pushed the curtain back so the two could make eye contact. 

She was sitting on the other hospital bed but she wasn’t in a patient gown. She was dressed in a purple sweater and blue jeans, clearly looking better than how he had last seen her. Winston was also beside her, dressed for business as usual, but he wasn’t smiling as brightly as he normally would, but he looked more sad than upset. Focusing back on Violet she offered a smile and he grinned at the sight of her until his vision was interrupted by the face of his childhood hero. 

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t wring your neck.”

Buddy swallowed at the question. It would seem like a waste of taxpayer money to keep him alive just long enough to end up getting murdered in a hospital by a super, but that wasn’t the reason he gave. Anyone who knew Mr. Incredible as extensively as he did knew that the man wasn’t exactly fiscally responsible when it came to damage control.

“Because… It might make Violet sad?” 

That seemed to be both the correct answer and the worst answer as Bob left the room, grumbling incoherent jargon as he went. Buddy couldn’t even enjoy the triumphant sight as Mirage was slamming a manilla folder into his chest. 

Wincing at the pressure against his tender but bandaged chest, Buddy grasped the file and began to leaf through the papers inside. There was a lot of text, but he wasn’t going to read it when he had the messenger still in the room with him.

“What’s this?”

“Your terms of agreement and contract with the NSA, as negotiated by your… associates,” Mirage said bitterly.

“Associates?” Buddy asked before seeing Violet and Winston wave their hands.

“Hello! Winston helped bat for you too,” the super said cheerfully making Buddy give an indigent look back to Mirage.

“What if I don’t want it?”

“HEY! WE WORKED REALLY HARD TO GET THAT DEAL FOR YOU!” Winston shouted making everyone else in the room cringe. 

“Well, if you don’t want it, I believe the alternative is prison with the potential of being on death row,” Mirage stated as she held her hand out to take the file back but Buddy was clutching the folder as though his life depended on it because as it so happened it did depend on it.

“Okay, I guess I want it then.”

Mirage eyed the man suspiciously. She wasn’t fond of him being on the force as well, but she wasn’t exactly a fan of the alternative either. 

“Finish the documents before the end of the day so I can turn them in,” she ordered before exiting the room as well. Winston whispered something to Violet that he didn’t quite catch but left the room as well, leaving Rick to give whatever serious briefing that he was going to deliver to the pair. 

Rick was as still as stone as he stared at the face of Buddy ‘Syndrome’ Pine. Rick Dicker wondered how in the hell this man managed to earn the devotion he received from Violet Parr. He wondered a lot of things about those two. When the rescue team stormed Schmerzen’s estate there was… Well there was a lot to be both covered and uncovered at the place. There was no forgiving what Pine had done on Nomanisan Island, but all the NSA files that Buddy had corrupted or deleted on his life had been restored tenfold by Schmerzen’s team. 

Buddy Pine had a life tougher than most. His father was a veteran who was dishonorably discharged due to loving the bottle more than the flag. His mother was as far as the paper trail could say, a nice lady who just had bad luck and a worse taste in men. It was ‘falling down the stairs’ one too many times that led to the discovery that she had terminal cancer and life for Pine just went downhill from there. His mother passed, his abusive father abandoned him, and the foster care system failed him miserably for letting him fall prey to a predator. A man who was remarkably still alive and well thanks to bureaucracy, but the system believed it had compensated the errors transgressed against Pine when really they just helped send him further down his path to becoming Syndrome. 

It was in college, at the age of 14, that Pine’s trajectory changed course for the darker. Working underneath William Chalk, a former general that was known to the NSA best as Major Metal, it was with him that Buddy found a father figure who could appreciate his talent while forging the rage he had into something productive. To no one's surprise, he used those talents for destruction and when Major Metal died unexpectedly, Buddy gained the super villain’s assets and the rest was history.

If only someone had picked up Buddy before the fall. Maybe Buddy Pine would have been something other than Syndrome. What the world could have been like with a genius like him on their side. 

But then there was Violet.

Christ. Violet. 

Level A was once the highest threat level a super could receive. Now, Violet was currently the only holder of the rank Level S. Morally, she was considered a light gray. Power threat wise? Nightmare fuel. There was no real explanation of how she managed to take out a small army by herself, but Schmerzen’s security footage handled that job for everyone asking that question. There were a few folks within the NSA who wanted to euthanize the pair of them, but that wasn’t going to happen on his watch and thankfully Mirage seemed to be in the same camp as him too. A lot of people were in that camp for Violet at least, but taking out Buddy clearly meant being against her and he couldn’t imagine having to go against her.

“You two… are trouble,” Rick muttered as he shook his head. 

“Yet we’re both still alive, so what gives?” Buddy asked before Violet threw a pillow his way that slapped the side of his face. The pair exchanged tense stares and Rick gained their attention again by clearing his throat.

“You’re both still here because for the time being because more people in the right places see you as potential forces for good than as the ticking time bombs that you two are.”

“Really feeling the trust in this room, Dick,” Buddy grumbled as he raised a hand to catch the second pillow that Violet threw his way.

“Well you should, Pine. Or I should say, Rookie. You’ve scared a lot of folks with what you two accomplished together but you’ve also impressed some people too. It’s no secret in this room that the organization is in a tough place right now. We’ve got a lot of trust to rebuild and having a former villain in the ranks doesn’t exactly restore confidence, but it does create some transparency which we need more of. So from this point on you’re back to being Buddy Pine. James Everett is dead, he died in a plane crash, and no, you don’t own anything that’s tied to DevTech now.”

Buddy frowned at the dig but said nothing in response as Dicker turned to look at Violet.

“Sadly, little miss, we can’t do anything to bring back Violet Parr. Not anytime soon and certainly not within this state. Too many people have seen or heard the report you two numbskulls put out and that can’t be undone without major brainwashing which isn’t authorized for your case.”

Violet nodded and pulled her legs to her chest. 

“So who am I?”

“Well, your face is still fresh in the public eye so unless we transfer you out of state the agency would prefer you stay under house arrest, when you aren’t doing your duties as the face of WatchDog.”

Buddy cracked the folder in his hands open and began to skim the documents searching for the rights to WatchDog. 

“You heard right, Rookie. WatchDog is now underneath the jurisdiction of the NSA.”

“Well that’s some bullsh-”

“SHUSH!” Violet snapped as she got to her feet. “Rick, I appreciate all that you’ve done to get us here but I can forget what the organization did to the super kids.”

“That’s why we need both of you two working for us. You may be underneath our department, but you’re also classified as independent contractors. Your first project for the NSA is weeding out those who aren’t here to serve the supers. You start whenever it is that this one decides to get out of bed.”

Buddy rolled his eyes as he set the file aside.

“And I bet we’re supposed to do this with limited funding, right?”

“Actually, you’ll be footing the bill on this one. In lieu of having your accounts flagged and your resources being impounded they are all transferred into the NSA and loaned back to you, like an expense account.”

Buddy stared at the government agent in disbelief.

“Somehow this deal just keeps getting worse.”

“You’ll also receive a commission on any requested tech you successfully build for our supers, and a monthly stipend to cover the costs of housing the woman formerly known as Violet Parr… if that is the place of residence that Violet is willing to accept.”

Buddy sat back in thought before he set his eyes on Violet again who was looking away from him.

“Rick, can I go over some ground rules with Buddy before I agree?” She asked and the older man nodded. 

“Take all the time you need Violet, though I know Mirage will be back here for his files so make it quick if you want to keep him in one piece,” Rick uttered before he made his way out of the room. 

Buddy waited for Violet to start listing off her demands but the woman was silent as she stared at the floor. She fidgeted with her hands as she slowly made her way across the room and to the foot of his bed. As she sat on the edge of his bed she lifted her eyes to meet his. 

“Before I agree to living and working with you, I- I need to know that you’ll be able to meet some conditions of mine.”

“Name them,” Buddy said without hesitation. 

“You can’t go breaking them-”

“I would argue that rules are meant to be broken but let’s hear them, Parr.”

“See, that’s rule number one. I can’t go by Violet Parr anymore, Rick just said so. Now I don’t have a new secret identity yet so I guess you and I should be on a first name basis. Don’t you agree?”

“I would say that’s fair I guess. Okay, Violet, what’s rule number two?”

“Well, being that we’ll be essentially roommates and I can’t be seen in public I’d like to be able to have my most inner circle of family and friends over from time to time. Now… You don’t have to get along with them, but you do have to play nice.”

Buddy shook his head while sucking air through clenched teeth. 

“That could be tough…cause I’m not gonna lie, Vi, you’re family isn’t exactly my cup of tea. But I’m willing to try. What’s next?”

“I’m pretty passionate when it comes to my job. So I’m going to need my partner to meet if not exceed my enthusiasm for the work that they do.”

“Alright,” Buddy said without question. He might not be on the same page when it comes to the whole justice schtick, but he’d be more than happy to keep tinkering with his bots. It could be a nice change of pace to commission stuff for good too.

“Fourth rule is that we need to be on our best behavior. W-we’re both on thin ice and we can’t have any slip ups because if we do.. Who knows. We could lose everything,” Violet whispered and Buddy nodded again.

“Can I add to that rule?”

“Yeah, sure. Of course you can,” Violet replied as she inched closer. 

“Accidents might happen, plans could fall through… but like you said, we’re kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place it seems. Whatever happens, we should have open communication. No secrets, or at least no secrets that could potentially endanger or hurt each other. Right?”

Violet nodded furiously as she rubbed at her eyes to keep her tears at bay.

“I like that addition.”

“Great. Now, what do you got for rule number five?”

Holding her breath Violet looked away and began to fidget with her fingers again.

“It’s a big ask. No skimping out on this one.”

“Go big or go home, Violet. That’s my motto,” Buddy said as he leaned forward.

“Well- being that we’re both going to be working with each other while living underneath the same roof it’s going to be really hard to keep things professional. I mean, office romances are bound to happen when working in such close capacity, and I know that relationships can be sticky too but I’ve gotta say that I’m greedy and I want it all,” Violet said as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear with her eyes fixated on the floor. “I want the job. I want to make a difference, but I also want to help you with yours and be a good partner. I’d like to be able to have morning coffee with you while we talk about everything or nothing at all and I want us to keep pushing each other to be better than we think we are and you know I’m also looking for something that’s also really physical-!”

Buddy sat up from the bed, ignoring the pain he currently carried just to kiss the woman. Cupping her face with his one free hand, Buddy kissed her repeatedly and Violet responded in kind, moving closer to deepen the kiss which was only broken so they could come up for air.

“You’ve got yourself a deal. I can do all of that. All of that and more,” Buddy mumbled breathlessly as he wiped the tears from Violet’s cheeks and kissed her again to seal the agreement. “We'll be spending an awful amount of time together, and I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together."

Violet smiled before breaking the keyhole on the cuff attached to him, releasing him from his bind so he could hold her with both hands. She knew Rick wouldn’t be happy about that, but what could she say? He had corrupted her in the worst way and she was still making progress on bringing out the best in him.

“There’s no one else I’d rather be stuck with.”


	29. Epilogue: Lima

News of Buddy 'Syndrome' Pine working for the NSA did not go over well within the super community. Death threats were made against him and while his location was kept out of range, for the most part, Buddy openly welcomed the world to try but only because he had the benefit of having a secret weapon under his roof. A secret weapon that he also shared a bed with. That he shared everything with. 

Everything. 

It was a slow breakdown and then all at once Buddy was letting the walls he had built over his life come down. His childhood wasn't the greatest but there were some specks of gold tucked in there that he could share. Memories of his mother, the first time he had seen Mr. Incredible in action, his earliest inventions. Those were things that managed to make the former villain and recovering narcissist smile, but Buddy also shared the dark parts of his past as well.

The beatings his father gave him. The final days of his mother in the hospital. It took him months to open up about the events that took place in St. Michael's Home for Wayward boys but Violet was patient with him. Nurturing and supportive. She held him and told him things that he already knew, that it wasn’t his fault for what happened in that place, that he was safe and she wouldn’t let anyone hurt him ever again. These were things that he didn't think he deserved but she gave him without hesitation. 

She also paid the former priest a visit, but that was her dirty secret until the obituary came. He didn’t react to it and she didn’t look for any response from him. She honestly didn’t know if she did it for him or for herself, but it was over as much as it could be because who would investigate the death of an elderly man who had a heart attack in the middle of the night?

It was no longer a mystery to Violet how Buddy became Syndrome. He had the blueprints for either becoming a basket case or a serial killer and being the survivalist that he was, he opted for the latter with the guidance of Major Metal, an East Coast villain. Her parents never had the displeasure of interacting with him but for the four years that Buddy had him in his life it was the first time he had been truly recognized as someone with potential since his mother, with the added benefit of receiving mentorship. It made sense that Buddy went to the darker side of the spectrum. It still wasn't forgivable, there would still be things he couldn’t atone for, even if he wanted to, but it was understandable- at least to Violet, and clearly Rick carried some form of sympathy for the man. 

Violet's family was another story. 

"Are you sure you don't want to stay with us?" Helen Parr would insist more than ask whenever the family visited. 

Violet would just nod her head while making sure that Buddy was still out of arm's reach from her father. 

Violet didn't try to get her father to come around to Buddy, and Buddy hadn't necessarily put in the effort to make things right either- at least not personally. Odds were that Buddy internally gloated that he had still captured one of the spawns of Mr. Incredible, even supply himself with brownie points for corrupting his daughter and it was because of this presumed behavior that Violet had to make sure at least one of the two were within her line of sight when the family was over. Buddy might have deserved her father's wrath, but she was biased in believing that he had been hurt enough in this lifetime.

Dash would tease her for getting brainwashed by a villain but Violet took it in stride, even prided herself for getting a villain to turn over a new leaf for her. Dash wouldn't agree but he didn't complain when Buddy's talents came in with new tech for the NSA. Jack-Jack seemed to take a liking to Buddy's inventions as well, and with some parental supervision, Buddy was allowed to help the youngest Parr with science projects, though her father was just relieved he didn't have to relearn any school subjects again. It was nice to see that she wasn't the only one who saw how great he was in the department of helping others when given the chance.

A lot of people recognized how his inventions could help the supers rather than hurt them actually. He had even pitched the bracelet that had kept her a prisoner but made some modifications, all of them to benefit the one wearing the device. The Super Anti Device actually had some honest, noble potential. Baby supers could cause a lot of damage to themselves and others, so capping off their powers would save the government a lot of money and families a lot of grief before the kids could start honing in on their abilities. Even her father had to admit that the device would have been great for someone like Gazerbeam who had trouble on the civilian side. Something to turn off the powers to get through a date, a marital spat, or just a bad day could save the world from countless accidents and tragedies. 

It was the first charitable act that Buddy had made to the community he had scorned. He'd never apologize for the events he had set into motion, but he was getting better. The NSA offered a commission of some considerable means but Buddy wouldn't accept anything above a single dollar, so long as he could have the right to name the device. 

Super Transition Device.

The higher-ups jumped at the deal, not recognizing the mistake of doing so until months later when an intern made a comment about how funny it was that the NSA was giving supers STDs. 

When he was confronted on the slick move via video conference it was the first time that Violet had seen Buddy cry from laughter. It was a dick move to be sure but just because he was no longer a bad guy didn't mean he left out his own interests completely. 

He was still a bastard at heart, but he was her bastard. Her nerdy, mildly selfish, cheeky bastard.

  
  


Buddy had to admit that he missed his freedom. He had to check in with his handlers anytime he wanted to spit, but when it came to restraint, he was willing to be underneath the thumb of the badge if it also got him to be underneath his all-time favorite super. Violet's force fields were no joke, but fuck was it was a turn-on for her to use those powers on him in the bedroom. 

He had finally given up on trying to be in control all the time and in that acceptance of losing power, he discovered the pleasure of vulnerability with the super. They'd still have their power struggles, but the stakes were no longer do or die for them. It was in good fun, or the occasional normal couple argument, though those were pretty nice as well in his opinion because that always brought up the possibility of make-up sex.

He had yet to say those three words to her. It wasn't out of lack of trying, but Violet knew that as witty as Buddy could be he wasn't a romantic poet and besides- love is about all the changes you make, not just three small words.

  
  


Changes like having a party in the large house that only occupied two. She invited her family and he invited the one other human being who didn't seem to hate his guts, Winston. Who in turn brought along the one person who could hate him more than Mr. Incredible; Mirage. 

Buddy confronted his ex-lover on what the hell she was doing with the multi-billionaire as though he didn't already have a clue but the agent denied the accusation over money and influence the eligible sugar daddy had. 

"What can I say, he makes me laugh."

Winston's claim to their relationship also backed up Mirage's denial in seeking another powerful man as it had been him who had sought out her company. He hadn't a clue that Buddy and Mirage were a thing until that night. He just thought she was something else. 

"I really wish that I could just buy out her contract from the NSA and bring her on to DevTech but she's super adamant about paying her debt to society!" Winston informed Violet woefully. 

If it were possible for a cat and a dog to be a couple, Violet presumed that it would look a lot like the way that Mirage and Win looked together. Would it last? They didn't know, but as long as Winston was happy, and Mirage wasn't trying to pull anything on anyone, Buddy didn't mind the union one bit. It kept her off his back, and that was more than enough compensation for him.

.  
  


.

.

A year had passed since the merger party that brought Violet and Buddy together. A lot of things had changed for them, mostly for the better but they still carried their own traumas. Buddy still wasn't fond of seeing the color white given his time in Schmerzen's company but Violet had begun to trust her housemate with handling her drinks again.

"So who's the mark this week?" Violet asked from the couch as Buddy made his way over to her with a file in hand. 

"Eh, nothing super exciting," Buddy said as he passed off the manila folder and turned to the bar cart to open up a bottle of white wine. "Just some Brit whose been running things since our friend Schmerzen departed," he said as he poured two glasses. Slipping something into one of the glasses before pouring the wine in. 

"So you have been holding out on me," Violet taunted as she closed up her book, a rather inaccurate biography 'Who Is The WatchDog'. 

"Just a bit, but you know, it's pretty hard for me to get permission to leave the country, let alone the state and you know how much I enjoy being a ride along on your missions," he said before handing off a moscato filled glass flute to her.

"Oh? Someone gave you the okay to leave the house huh? Mirage must not be happy about that," Violet started as she motioned to take a sip.

"Actually, she's the one who signed off on the leave papers."

"Sometimes I have to wonder if you planted Winston into Mirage's life just to get your way," Violet teased as she lifted the glass up to her lips to take a sip but pulled the glass away seeing something at the bottom. 

She knew that Buddy wasn’t dumb enough to try drugging her again after all that they had been through but what could have possessed him to pull a fast one like this was beyond her. Summoning a force field around the object, Violet pulled it from the bottom of her glass and froze seeing that it was a ring. A ring with his signature graphene in place of a stone.

She dropped the wine glass in her hand which shattered on the floor below and Buddy wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad sign for him but he got down on one knee all the same. It was too late to go back now and the NSA had taken back the mind wipe machine he owned. Minding the small mess below, Buddy positioned himself as best as he could below the woman who could end him with a single blow. 

“Buddy, I-”

“Hold up, super, please let me get this out before you shut me down because I’ve been rehearsing this in my head for a while,” Buddy began as he stared up at her. When she gave a nod he took a breath and started up again. “From the day that you entered my life you’ve been foiling my plans. You- you’ve destroyed everything that I’ve worked towards and-”

“Is this a break-up or a pr-”

“AND I LOVE IT,” Buddy quickly interjected now realizing that the intro wasn’t as appealing as he believed it to be. Swallowing his pride, the engineer looked to the floor as he tried to recollect the rest of the speech he had prepped in his mind. “I love it and- and I love you.”

Their eyes met again. Her midnight blue threatening to shed tears as his icy gaze was losing all confidence in this plot. 

“At every turn, you’ve bested me, and against better judgment and best interests, you’ve made me better. Made me want to be a better man. You got me feeling like a part of me I didn’t think I’d ever see again,” Buddy admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck. It wasn’t just bringing out the eager kid who wanted to play hero either. She had pulled out the optimistic side of him. The part of him that he thought he had killed off before he started killing his heroes. That he didn’t have to be tough, or cruel, or even super to survive this world. Not so long as he had her. 

“I honestly don’t even know if this is kosher in the agency and frankly I don’t give a damn if it’s against the rules or breaks my contract. I don’t need the satisfaction of watching your old man passing you off to me at the end of some church house aisle but… if you can’t be Violet Parr anymore, is there any chance you’d take on the name Pine? I mean- it’s not like we can really make it official in the public eye but I'd like to know that we aren't just partners against crime I guess. That we're more than just stuck together,” he continued trying not to think of what her mother had asked of them on the front lawn when she doubted their potential. "I want to be on a united front with you. If you’ll have me."

Violet wiped the broken glass and spilled wine aside with her powers so she could kneel down to his level without hurting herself. Holding out the ring back out to him through her force field, Violet nodded enthusiastically as she offered her hand.

“Yes. Yes, I want that. I want you. I want to be with you.”

Beaming with joy, Buddy plucked the ring from thin air and placed it upon Violet’s finger. Once it was on the woman wrapped her arms around him and their lips collided as they crashed to the floor. Every stitch and article of clothing was removed from them both as they made love before the open fireplace. Everything, save for that ring made from honeycomb-shaped carbon. 

Buddy Pine could have died several dozen times in the course of his life, most of those were in the days where there would be no one around to mourn him, but this evening officially marked something that had been foreign to him. He would be living for someone other than himself, and he doubted that the world would ever feel the same.

“I love you, Vi.”

“I love you too, Buddy. I love you too.”

  
  
  
  
  


_**To be continued…?** _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must focus on my coursework now but writing up these two has been a delight.
> 
> I do have a sequel brewing in my head, one in which would focus on more of their relationship, with Buddy's rehabilitation/recovery, the rest of the Incredible's/supers interacting with the recovering villain and the introduction of some new faces.
> 
> I hope that I can make that happen, but if not I hope that this little fic was worth the read. 
> 
> Cheers and be safe out there!


End file.
